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CHEMISTRY FOE 
LAUNDERERS 

ALSO FOR 

CLEANERS AND DYERS 



BY 

C. F. TOWNSEND, F.C.S. 

Late Assistant Examiner, Royal College of Physicians, and 

Editor of "The Power Laundry." 

London, Eng. 



ILLUSTRATED 



AMERICAN EDITION 

Published by 

NATIONAL LAUNDEY JOUENAL, 

CHICAGO. 



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Copyright, 1910 

BY 

DOWST BROS. COMPANY 
CHICAGO 






CG!.A-.'6S071 



AMERICAN EDITION. 

This American edition contains all the matter 
that the original English publication does, cor- 
rected slightly in spelling, etc., to harmonize with 
customs of America. Some slight errors which, 
in the original edition were corrected on one of 
the last pages thereof, have been corrected in 
the text, in this edition; and furthermore, some 
little additional matter has been inserted by the 
author, bringing the book more up to date. The 
whole work has been carefully edited by the 
American publishers, and it is confidently hoped 
that the book will meet with the reception it 
deserves, on this side the Atlantic, and elsewhere 
about the globe, where readers of the National 
Laundry Journal, are located. 

DowsT Bros. Co., Publishers, 
National Laundry Journal. 



CONTENTS. 



(See Also FuU Index, 183 to 189) 
CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Inteoduction 7 

II. Chemical Architecture 23 

III. Alkalies 39 

IV. Acids 42 

V. Soaps 49 

VI. Bleaching 67 

VII, Stains, AND Their Removal 79 

Ylll. Solvents 91 

IX. Starches and Other Stiffening Agents. 99 

X. Fuel 117 

XI. Fabrics 135 

XII. Dyes and Dyeing 134 

XIII. Water 145 

XIV. The Chemistry of the Washroom 151 

XV. Some Simple Analytical Work 162 

Appendix A 179 

Appendix B 179 

Appendix C 180 



CHEMISTRY FOB LAUNDEREES 

ALSO FOB 

CLEANERS AND DYERS 



CHAPTEE I 

Introduction 

While it is impossible, or next to it, for every 
launderer to be a chemist, there is no reason what- 
ever why he should not learn many valuable 
scraps of chemistry which will come in useful, 
not merely some time or other, but very frequently 
in his business. No doubt the time will come, and 
let us hope it is not very far off, when every laun- 
derer will have had a good chemical and engineer- 
ing training. But that is not yet; and although 
one or two launderers may have found the time 
and energy to make a serious study of chemistry 
they are so few and far between as to be hardly 
worth considering. The average launderer has 
started with little technical knowledge, and what 
he does possess has been gained in the hard school 
of experience and paid for on the high scale of 
fees that are in vogue in that school. It is not 
as a rule until he has got over his initial difficulties 
and settled down into a nice comfortable paying 

7 



8 INTRODUCTION 

business that he can spare sufficient time from the 
pressing worries of everyday routine to devote to 
anything else, however useful it might prove to 
him theoretically. By the time he is able to tear 
himself away from his business to this extent, he 
naturally feels that he has earned a long rest and 
is usually not at all inclined to take up the study 
of chemistry or anything else. Of course, there 
are exceptions ; but that is the rule. Nevertheless 
there is no excuse for the launderer not giving 
his son who is to succeed him in the management 
of the business the opportunity of learning chem- 
istry and engineering thoroughly, although for 
himself this may generally have been out of the 
question. 

The serious study of chemistry requires several 
years of almost devoted attention in order to 
become even comparatively proficient in the sub- 
ject, especially in analytical chemistry, which in 
its higher branches is almost an art or a science. 
Taking all this into account, however, there is no 
reason whatever why he should not pick up useful 
scraps of chemical knowledge as he does engineer- 
ing knowledge; and even something more, pro- 
vided always that he bears in mind the fact that 
they are only scraps and takes care not to fall 
into the many traps that stand in the path of the 
man with the little knowledge, proverbially such a 
dangerous thing. 



INTEODUCTION 

Apparatus. 

The first thing that stands in the way of the 
beginner who has not attended chemistry classes 
— and perhaps qnite as much in the way of those 
who have — is the question of apparatus. He asks 
himself ''Must I buy a whole outfit of apparatus 
before I can make use of the instruction pro- 
vided?" To which I reply "No! There is very 
little you need buy; at all events at first." There 
are very few chemical experiments the launderer 
is likely to require which cannot be performed in 
an ordinary gallipot — provided it is clean. While 
it must be remembered that accuracy down to 
the minutest detail, and scrupulous cleanliness 
are the first essentials to any kind of practical 
chemical, or, in fact, any kind of scientific work, 
it must not be forgotten that all the early and 
most of the momentous experiments were con- 
ducted with home-made apparatus of what we 
should now consider the crudest description; and 
considering the difficulties, the results obtained 
were surprisingly accurate. Consequently, when- 
ever it is necessary to buy anything more compli- 
cated than a jam pot I will duly advise the reader 
of the fact. The only time the launderer will 
require anything in the nature of accurate chem- 
ical apparatus will be when he may wish to carry 
out any quantitative analytical work. And 
although I do not recommend him to go very far in 



10 INTRODUCTION 

this direction without very much more thorough 
instruction than he can obtain from this little text 
book, or, for a matter of that, any other, there 
are certainly some simple analytical operations 
he might very well undertake, such as the rough 
valuation of samples of soap, tests for the hard- 
ness of water and so forth. When I come to this 
stage I will deal more fully with the apparatus 
which will be required. 

Temperature. 

In applying chemistry in the laundry, at is 
always of the first importance to remember that 
the people who have to do the practical work of 
the washroom and the starchroom are ordinary 
uneducated working people who will be pretty 
certain to make a painful mess of any complicated 
system, especially as they do not imder stand, in 
999 cases out of a 1,000, the reasons for what 
they are doing. Consequently, while the manager 
should make full use of whatever knowledge he 
himself possesses, he should, when it comes to 
operations with which other people have to deal, 
get them down to the simplest basis. There is, 
however, one thing in which strict accuracy should 
be enjoined, and that is temperature. A ther- 
mometer, although it need not be used with every 
load of clothes that is washed, should occupy a 
conspicuous place in every washhouse. Tempera- 



INTRODUCTION H 

ture plays a very important part in nearly all 
chemical operations and most laundry operations 
are really chemical ones — and if the reader once 
understands that to get the best results it is neces- 
sary to work at the proper temperature for that 
operation, and no other, he will find that he will 
get on very much better. It may seem strange 
that I should insist so strongly on this question 
of temperature, and of buying a thermometer, but 
as I shall explain directly and frequently later on, 
the importance of this is very great. Many 
readers will say, ''Of course I have a thermome- 
ter!" But there is no of course about it. A little 
while ago I had a letter from a querist asking 
whether there was not some instrument like a 
hydrometer by which she could tell whether the 
water was the right heat for flannels ! 

Effects of Heat. 

Owing to its importance it would be well if I 
were to say a little more about this. Most chem- 
ical operations — or re-actions, as scientific people 
call them — will only go on at certain temperatures 
and under certain conditions. An alteration in the 
temperature or conditions may not only stop 
the re-action, but even reverse it. Chalk for 
instance, when strongly heated in a kiln, parts 
with its carbonic acid and becomes converted into 
lime. If, however, this lime is exposed to the air 



12 INTRODUCTION 

at the ordinary temperature, the action is reversed 
and it gradually becomes converted back again 
into chalk. This is only one instance out of a 
very large number, and while the launderer has 
not to deal with such extremes as the difference 
between the ordinary temperature of the air and 
that of a lime kiln, yet this question of tempera- 
ture concerns him very intimately. 

One of the kinds of "dirt" which he has to 
remove from the fabrics entrusted to his care con- 
sists of exudations from the skin, particles of skin 
itself and various other animal matters attached 
to the fibres. All these contain albumin or sub- 
stances resembling it. Now albumin is rendered 
insoluble by heating it to a comparatively low 
temperature, so that the first operation in wash- 
ing should always be to soak the garments in tepid 
water containing weak alkali, which assists in 
loosening the animal matter. Further, the fibre 
of flannel and woolen goods generally felts 
together at a high temperature, and chemical 
changes take place in it, so that it is most impor- 
tant that the temperature of the water in which 
flannels are washed should be kept as low as 
possible. The question of boiling linen and cotton 
goods is again worth considering. 

The subject of starching is another important 
one in connection with changes of temperature, 
and I do not think this question has been nearly 



INTRODUCTION 13 

sufficiently studied by launderers. The tempera- 
ture at which starch is dried before ironing is cer- 
tainly a very important matter. 

Cause and Effect. 

One of the first things to learn in studying 
chemistry is that the same causes always produce 
the same effects, so that if you can once find out 
the exact conditions for securing the result you 
wish to obtain, you can always make sure of your 
result by employing like conditions. With this 
fact staring him in the face the launderer should 
have no excuse for allowing happy-go-lucky, rule 
of thumb conditions to rule in his washroom any 
longer. If you do not get the right result, be sure 
there is something wrong with your conditions, 
and do not rest until you have found out what is 
wrong and have put it right. Every launderer 
who has made even a moderate success of his 
business, knows that this success has been made 
by introducing and maintaining a rigid system in 
dealing with the various articles as they pass 
through the different departments. If he would 
introduce a similar rigid system into his wash- 
room as regards the materials employed and the 
temperatures at which they are employed, he 
would soon find a marked improvement in the 
quality of the work turned out. The average 
washman is much too fond of using a piece 



14 INTRODUCTION 

''the size of a lump of chalk" instead of an accu- 
rately weighed or measured quantity, and this 
tendency is nearly always in need of restraint. 

Scientific methods. 

One of the first things to be done towards reor- 
ganizing the washroom on proper scientific lines 
is to keep a careful control of the stockroom. 
Never allow any form of either soap or alkali to 
be used in its crude state, but make up stock solu- 
tions and keep them in tanks in or adjacent to 
the washroom. Neither soap nor alkali should 
ever be thrown into the washing machine in the 
solid state as I have sometimes seen done. It 
destroys the goods and wastes the materials. Give 
distinct instructions as to the quantities to be 
employed, and make an occasional calculation to 
insure these quantities are not greatly departed 
from. 

Another thing to be done in the way of insuring 
scientific accuracy, is to measure each machine 
and record the amount of liquor used in the wash 
and the approximate amount of soap and soda 
required for washing the different classes of arti- 
cles. This should be posted up at the back of the 
machine for permanent reference. 

All this talk about weighing and measuring may 
perhaps seem a little foreign to the subject in 
hand, but science has been defined as accurate 



INTEODUCTION 15 

measurement, and the first thing a student has to 
learn when he comes into a chemical, or any other 
scientific laboratory, is to weigh and measure with 
scrupulous exactitude. If the launderer learns 
nothing else from this book but to measure accu- 
rately all the materials and temperatures he uses 
in his washroom and starchroom he will have 
learned something of the greatest value. 

The Nature of Things. 

Like so many things in this world, material 
objects such as soap, soda, the fabrics which pass 
through the launderer 's hands, in fact, everything 
that he can see and touch, are not so solid as they 
look. They are composed of very minute particles 
— so minute that you could not see them under 
the most powerful microscope — and these particles 
are separated from one another by quite apprecia- 
ble distances — appreciable, that is to say, com- 
pared with the size of the particles themselves. 
The particles are always in a state of motion, the 
extent of the motion depending upon the tem- 
perature — the higher the temperature the more 
rapid the motion; consequently chemical changes 
take place much more rapidly as the temperature 
goes up. Even solid particles which are not too 
small to be seen under a microscope are in a state 
of rapid oscillatory motion; that is to say, 
although they do not move away from their posi- 



16 INTRODUCTION 

tion they swing backwards and forwards like tiny 
penduhuns, only mucli more rapidly than the pen- 
dulum of a clock. This motion can be observed 
quite easily by rubbing down a little gamboge, or 
some other finely-divided solid in water and plac- 
ing a drop under the microscope. This state of 
motion of finely-divided particles has an import- 
ance for the launderer, for it is on account of 
this that the cleansing of linen with water is a 
comparatively easy matter. 

Surface Action. 

There are certain other properties of matter 
that I must deal with before going farther, as they 
have an important bearing on laundering opera- 
tions, as well as on cleaning and dyeing. There 
are probably few of my readers who have not 
noticed that water and some other liquids have 
a tendency to creep up the sides of a glass vessel 
in which they are contained. In a wide vessel 
this is not so very easy to see, but in a narrow 
one it is very noticeable. In such a narrow tube 
as is employed for thermometers, the water rises 
in the interior quite an appreciable distance above 
the level of the rest of the liquid if an open tube 
of this description is placed in water. If, however, 
a similar tube be placed in mercury, exactly the 
opposite effect is noticed ; the mercury in the tube 
is depressed below the level of the rest of the 



INTRODUCTION 17 

liquid. In coloquial language, the water '*wets" 
the glass, while the mercury does not. The former 
is attracted to the glass ; while the latter is repelled 
from it. A greasy surface has exactly the same 
effect on water as the glass has on mercury — the 
water is repelled from the grease and consequently 
has no cleansing action on greasy fabrics if used 
alone. Soap and alkali, especially the former, 
quite apart from their specific action on the 
grease, greatly increase the tendency of water to 
"wet" things, and that is one of the reasons why 
they are so useful to the launderer. Another rea- 
son why soap is so valuable is that it greatly stim- 
ulates the movement of the solid particles referred 
to above and consequently enables the water to 
remove the dirt from the fabric by mechanical 
action. 

Capillary Action. 

There is another matter depending upon this: 
I referred just now to the tendency of water and 
certain other liquids, to creep up narrow tubes; 
well, all fabrics, or nearly all, consist of tiny 
tubular fibres, woven or felted together, and water 
has the power of creeping up these tiny tubes for 
quite a long way. If the water contains a dye, 
this is carried up. with the water and deposited in 
the fabric. 



18 INTRODUCTION 

Diflfusion. 

Yet another property of matter. If you divide 
a vessel in half by a vertical porous partition and 
place plain water on one side and water containing 
a dye on the other, you will find that although 
the liquids are exactly the same height on both 
sides of the partition and are kept apparently 
absolutely still, the coloring matter will travel or 
*' diffuse" from one part to the other until there 
is the same amount of dye in all parts of the 
liquid. Even if by mechanical means you could 
put the heavier liquid containing the dye or any 
other soluble salts, such as soda, at the bottom of 
the vessel and the plain water on the top, you 
would find the same thing would happen. This 
is what happens when a washman by an unfor- 
tunate accident puts a red sock in with a load 
of whites, as probably many of my readers know 
to their cost. This property of diffusion is one 
of the reasons why we are able to dye goods at all. 

Diffusion is not confined to liquids, but occurs 
even in the case of some apparent solids; while 
in gases, such as the air we breathe or the coal 
gas we burn, diffusion is far more active than in 
the case of liquids. Everyone knows how rapidly 
an escape of gas will make its presence felt, not 
only in the immediate neighborhood of the escape, 
but all over the building. This is due partly to 



INTRODUCTION 10, 

the currents of air, but also to diffusion.. It is 
the same property of diffusion which causes coal 
gas to escape through the pores of an india-rubber 
tube. 

Conduction and Connection of Heat. 

Now, here is another point: Has it ever 
occurred to any of my readers to consider why 
they apply heat to a vessel at the bottom instead of 
at the top! The reason is that water is a very 
poor conductor of heat, and by means of suitable 
arrangements for heating a vessel at the top it is 
quite possible to have boiling water at the top of 
the vessel and a piece of ice at the bottom. In 
addition to water being a bad conductor, hot water 
is much lighter than cold water, so that in the 
experiment referred to the hot water being at the 
top stays there and is very little affected by the 
heavier cold water underneath. The Gulf Stream 
forms an excellent example of this ; here you have 
a river of warm water running for hundreds of 
miles on the top of cold water and hardly mixing 
with it. When you apply heat at the bottom of a 
vessel the heated water being lighter, rises to the 
top through the middle of the liquid, while the 
heavier, cold water pours down the sides to adjust 
the balance, and a constant circulation is set up, so 
that the water is heated evenly throughout. This 
has a very practical application for the launderer 



20 INTRODUCTION 

in the ease of boilers. In a badly constructed 
boiler or one in wliicli scale is heavily deposited in 
some parts, it is quite possible for there to be 
quite large differences in the temperature of the 
water in the different parts of the boiler. Conse- 
quently an enormous strain is set up, which causes 
leakages and rapid deterioration of the shell. 

Radiation, Reflection and Conduction. 

While upon this subject I will explain the differ- 
ence between radiation, reflection, and conduction 
of heat. Every launderer probably knows the 
different effect of opening a steam valve with a 
bright gun metal wheel and one of iron painted 
over. In the first place it will be so hot he can 
hardly touch it; while in the latter he can turn 
the valve without any inconvenience. The reason 
is that the heat from the steam in the pipe flows 
much more easily along the copper than along 
the iron and especially along the paint ; that is to 
say, copper is a much better conductor of heat 
than iron. Again, if the hand be held close to a 
bright copper vessel on a cooking stove a much 
smaller sensation of heat will be felt than if it be 
held at the same distance from a black iron one; 
the heat radiated from the latter being much 
greater. The rule is that substances which are 
good reflectors, such as bright copper or white 
paint, are bad radiators. Consequently steam and 



INTRODUCTION 21 

hot water pipes should always be painted white or 
covered with that new metallic paint. 

Light. 

Light again cannot be left out of account in the 
introduction to notes on chemistry. In the first 
place it will be found that many chemical sub- 
stances if placed in the light undergo important 
changes, which render them unfit for the purpose 
for which they were intended. Hydrogen per- 
oxide, for example, decomposes rapidly if exposed 
to bright light, and everyone is familiar with the 
strong effect of sunlight upon moist linen hung 
out of doors; the effect of sunlight on fugitive 
dyes is even better known. Light is a particular 
form of force which is transmitted from a lumin- 
ous body like waves traveling over the surface of 
the sea and certain kinds of light waves produce 
curious chemical effects in many substances. As 
already partly explained matter consists of tiny 
particles separated from one another by compara- 
tively appreciable distances, and these light waves 
have the power of making some of these particles 
vibrate in time with themselves, just as the bricks 
of which a church is built will rock or vibrate in 
response to the sound waves from the large pipes 
of an organ. In the case of the light waves I 
have just been considering, the rocking or vibra- 
tion of the particles under the influence of the 



22 INTRODUCTION 

waves of light often becomes so great that the 
complicated chemical compound falls to pieces and 
becomes something simpler. This is what hap- 
pens in the case of a fugitive dye exposed to the 
sunlight, or of a piece of stained linen hung out 
in the open air. 



CHAPTER II 

Chemical Architecture 

Before going any farther it will be necessary to 
say some more about the tiny particles of wliich 
material substances are made up, as the chemical 
nature of a body depends quite as much upon the 
way these particles are arranged as upon the 
differences in the nature of the particles them- 
selves. When a metallic casting or forging is 
made, the particles are set in certain directions 
which in the relation of the particles to one 
another gives the metal sufficient strength to bear 
the strains put upon it. If, however, it be sub- 
jected to continuous vibration, such as a railway 
car gets in traveling at a high speed over the 
metals, or if the material be continually heated 
and cooled, as happens to the metal forming the 
bed of an ironing machine, the vibration causes 
the particles to set themselves all in the same 
direction and a large proportion of the strength of 
the material is lost; consequently it becomes 
unable to bear the strain, and some fine day, with- 
out any warning, the railway car axle or the bed 
of the ironing machine gives way. This property 

23 



24 CHEMICAL ARCHITECTTJEE 

of metals to get ''tired" so to speak, is well known 
to engineers, and is spoken of as the "fatigue" of 
metals. This peculiarity is very noticeable in 
working metals, such as hammering copper or 
drawing wire; after a short time the metal 
becomes brittle and has to be reheated or 
''annealed" before the work can proceed. In 
making a casting, there is always an outer "skin" 
to the metal, which possesses much greater tensile 
strength than the body of the metal inside, so that 
if, for example, some of the surface be planed off 
a calender bed to make it fit the roller better, the 
bed is appreciably weakened, not because of the 
comparatively small amount of metal that is re- 
moved, but because the "skin" — the strongest 
part — has been planed off. These are only a few 
instances, and many more might be given if space 
permitted. 

The Composition of Water. 

Now for something about the chemical proper- 
ties of the particles. It is convenient to commence 
with the study of water, because it is one of the 
commonest substances, and make a good starting 
point into the bargain. If we pass an electric cur- 
rent through a liquid it apparently causes the 
particles composing the liquid to move, half of 
them with the current, and the other half against 
the current, so that at the terminals, that is to say, 



CHEMICAL ARCHITECTUKE 25 

where the current enters and leaves the liquid, the 
particles are given off in the free state. In the 
case of water, we shall find if we try the experi- 
ment, that bubbles of gas are given off from each 
terminal plate, and if we collect the bubbles we 
shall find that twice as much gas is given off from 
the negative plate, that is to say, where the cur- 
rent leaves the liquid, as from the positive plate, 
where the current enters. We shall find also that 
the gas given off at the negative end will burn 
with a blue flame; while that given off from the 
other end will cause a glowing match to burst into ^ 
flame. The former gas is known as hydrogen, and 
the latter as oxygen. We have seen that there are 
two volumes or two particles of hydrogen given 
off for every one of oxygen; consequently a par- 
ticle of water appears to be made up of two par- 
ticles or atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen ; or, 
to put it graphically, thus : 

H H 

A large number of careful experiments made in 
different ways show that this is the case. It must 
be clearly understood that the particles or atoms 
are not mixed together like sand and sugar, but 
are very closely combined more like the links in 
a chain, and could not be separated by any ordi- 
nary mechanical means. This state is known as 
*' chemical combination" as distinguished from 
the ''mechanical mixture" of the sand and sugar. 



26 CHEMICAL ARCHITECTUKE 

Let US take another of tlie commonest things in 
the world, namely, the air we breathe. This con- 
tains oxygen among other things and there are 
several ways in which we can remove it, one of 
the easiest of which is by means of the pyrogallic 
acid and soda used for developing photographic 
plates; another method being by passing the air 
over red-hot copper filings. Suppose we do pass a 
measured quantity of air over red-hot copper, or, 
through this photographic developing solution, we 
shall find that about one-fifth of it has disappeared 
— this is the oxygen. The other -four-fifths con- 
sist of a gas called nitrogen, besides very small 
quantities of other things which need not concern 
us for the moment. 

Ammonia. 

Now suppose we take some of the hydrogen 
from our first experiment, mix it with the nitro- 
gen just obtained and pass the electric discharge 
through it. We shall find that after a short time 
the mixture smells strongly of ammonia and fur- 
ther examination would show us that the nitrogen 
and the hydrogen had combined to form ammonia 
gas, one of nitrogen combining with three of 
hydrogen ; so that we see that anmionia is : 

— H 
— H 



CHEMICAL ARCHITECTURE 27 

Marsh Gas. 

If we were to collect some of the bubbles of gas 
which arise from stagnant marshy water contain- 
ing decaying vegetable matter which we often see 
in ponds by the roadside, we should find, if we had 
the proper means of analyzing it, that is to say, 
splitting it up into its component parts, that it was 
made up of one part of carbon (charcoal, black 
lead, anthracite, etc., are more or less pure forms 
of carbon) and four parts of hydrogen, or to put it 
graphically 

H- -H 
H— ^— H 

Similarly there are other compounds which con- 
tain even more particles of hydrogen, combined 
with one particle of the substance in question, but 
these will not concern us much at present. 

Chlorine. 
We have now before us the following types: — 

Water. Ammonia. Marsh Gas. 

H_-0_H N=H ^tCZg 

There is yet one more type necessary to complete 
the set, namely, that in which the particle of 
hydrogen combines with only one particle of 



28 CHEMICAL ARCHITECTTJBE 

another substance and we get that in hydro- 
chloric acid (known in its impure forms as 
muriatic acid or spirits of salt). If we take a few 
drops of this acid or rather the solution of it which 
is sold commercially and add two or three drops 
of nitric acid to it, a greenish yellow gas will be 
given off with a very choky irritating smell. This 
gas is called chlorine and is the basis of all the 
chlorine bleaching agents. It combines with hy- 
drogen so violently that if we mix the two gases 
and expose the mixture to sunlight an explosion 
will occur, and the resulting substance, known as 
hydrochloric acid, contains one of hydrogen united 
to one of clilorine, thus : 

H— CI 

We now have our types complete ; hydrogen com- 
bining with chlorine one to one ; with oxygen two 
to one ; with nitrogen three to one ; and with car- 
bon four to one. 



CHAPTER III 

AliKALIES 

Going back to the beginning again, we find by 
experiment that water was made np of two par- 
ticles of hydrogen to one of oxygen, thus : 

H— 0— H 

Suppose we take a small piece of the metal called 
sodium, which at ordinary temperature is quite 
soft like cheese, although when freshly cut it has a 
bright metallic surface ; cut pieces about the size of 
a small pea off it and drop them into a little basin 
of water, and we shall see that they cause great 
commotion in the liquid, flying about over the 
surface as if they were alive; while a stream of 
whitish matter is left as a trail, like the sparks 
from the tail of a rocket. When the pieces of 
sodium have come to the end of their course and 
disappeared in the water, we shall find that it has 
a soapy taste and will turn red litmus paper blue. 
Moreover, if we had applied a light to the particles 
of sodium we should have found that an inflam- 
mable gas was being given off, which would light 
and continue to burn so long as the action lasted. 

29 



30 ALKALIES 

This gas was hydrogen and what was happening 
was that the sodium was turning out part of the 
hydrogen from the water and taking its place, 

thus : — 

H— 0— H Water. 
Sodium — — H Caustic Soda. 

forming caustic soda. If we continued to add 
sodium until all the water were decomposed we 
should get a solid mass of pure white caustic soda. 

Sodium Oxide. 

If we went on adding sodium after all the water 
had been converted into caustic soda and applied 
heat, a further action would take place, in which 
the remainder of the hydrogen would be turned 
out, forming : — 

Sodium — — Sodium 

or sodium oxide with no hydrogen in it at all. 

Alkalies, Acids and Salts. 

The caustic soda, which we succeeded in making 
just now is a typical alkali. And we discovered, 
it had a soapy taste and would turn litmus paper 
blue. It has another property also: if we add 
dilute acid to it, say, the hydrochloric acid we 
were speaking of above, we shall find that if we 
add it little by little we shall arrive at a point 
when litmus paper ceases to be turned blue; 



ALKALIES 



31 



neither is it turned red. This is the neutral point 
when the acid and the alkali have extinguished one 
another, so to speak, by combining to form some- 
thing else; in this case sodium chloride or com- 
mon salt. In putting it graphically we find it 
convenient to write sodium and we cannot use the 
letter ^'S," for that is used to designate sulphur, 
so that in chemistry we employ the first two letters 
of its Latin name (natrium) ; consequently the 
action between the caustic soda and the hydro- 
chloric acid may be put graphically thus : — 

After 



Common 
Salt 



Water 



Na 


OH 


CI 


H 



Caustic Soda 



Hydrochloric Acid 



W 



From the diagram we see that when the acid and 
the alkali act upon one another, salt and water are 
formed. In this particular case the salt formed 
is common salt — sodium chloride; but in every 
case where an alkali and an acid come together a 
salt of some kind and water is the result. For 
example, when oleic acid — the waste fatty matter 
from the candle factory — is mixed with caustic 



32 ALKALIES 

soda, sodium oleate and water are formed. So- 
dium oleate is olive oil soap; so that soap, al- 
though in some ways a complicated substance, is 
similar in its construction to common salt or so- 
dium chloride ; but of that more later. 

Sodium Carbonate. 

For our next experiment, suppose we arrange 
a series of vessels connected together by tubing 
(quite an easy matter to do in a laboratory where 
we have the necessary appliances) so that we can 
burn a piece of charcoal in the first vessel and 
pass the products of combustion through some 
caustic soda solution in another vessel. If before 
the experiment we weighed the piece of charcoal 
and the vessel containing the caustic soda (to 
which, by the way, would have to be attached 
another vessel containing a substance which would 
retain any water lost by the caustic soda solution 
and carried forward by the current of air) we 
should find that the caustic soda had increased in 
weight by considerably more than the weight of 
the charcoal. As a matter of fact, determined by 
a large number of experiments, it has been found 
that in burning the charcoal, one particle of carbon, 
to use the chemical term, combines with two par- 
ticles of oxygen to form a gas known as carbonic 
acid gas, and this gas is absorbed by the caustic 
soda to form sodium carbonate, which accounts 



ALKALIES 33 

for the increase of weight we observed. To go 
back to graphic diagrams we have marsh gas : — 

— H 

C_H 
— H 

Now we remember that oxygen combines with 
two of hydrogen to form water, that is to say, one 
of oxygen is equivalent to two of hydrogen. Con- 
sequently, if carbon combines with oxygen instead 
of hydrogen it will only require half the number 
of particles of the latter, and we should expect to 
find that carbonic acid gas is constructed accord- 
ing to the diagram : — 

which experiment shows to be the case. For the 
sake of convenience this is written CO2 ; the marsh 
gas referred to above being CH4 ; water H2O, and 
so on. 

Sodium Carbonate and Bicarbonate. 

There are two combinations of caustic soda with 
carbonic acid — the ordinary carbonate which we 
made just now, and the bicarbonate, these being 
formed according to the amount of carbonic acid 
present. The latter does not become a true acid 



34 ALKALIES 

until it is dissolved in water, so that carbonic acid 
proper is HoO, CO2, the two carbonates of sodium 
just referred to being : — 

XT 

TT 0. CO2 Carbonic Acid 

Na— 

XT 0. CO2 Sodium Bicarbonate 

Na— 

TVT 0. CO2 Sodium Carbonate 

Na — 

Soda Crystals. 

The last, or Na^ CO3, to put it in more con- 
venient form, is the ordinary carbonate, with 
which launderers are so well acquainted under 
the forms of washing soda, soda crystals, 58 per 
cent, alkali, and soda ash, the differences between 
them being due to the amount of water they con- 
tain. If we take a solution of sodium carbonate, 
made by dissolving up any of the forms referred 
to above, and evaporate the water away by 
heating the solution in a glass or porcelain vessel, 
we shall see that when a certain amount of water 
has been driven oif, the solution will begin to 
crystallize if allowed to stand. These crystals, 
however, are not pure sodium carbonate ; in crys- 
tallizing a certain definite proportion of water be- 
comes entangled in the crystals, and many crys- 
tals, which to all appearances are quite dry and 



ALKALIES 35 

hard, contain quite a large proportion of water 
combined with the substance in question. In the 
case of soda crystals or washing soda which is 
what we have just secured by allowing our con- 
centrated solution to crystallize, the crystals con- 
tain no less than ten particles of water to each 
particle of sodium carbonate ; so that when we buy 
our sodium carbonate in this form we are buying 
a large amount of water as well. The dry pow- 
dered alkali so much in use is practically pure dry 
sodium carbonate and is the most convenient and 
economical form to employ. 

Potash. 

Wood ash, known commercially as '' potashes" 
and in a more refined state as "pearlash," is very 
similar in composition to washing soda, the differ- 
ence being that a metal called potassium replaces 
sodium. This metal resembles sodium very closely. 
When thrown upon water it turns out the hydro- 
gen even more violently than the sodium does and 
the heat produced is so great that the gas usually 
takes fire of its own accord, burning with a bright 
violet flame in strong contrast to the yellow flame 
of the sodium. Not only caustic potash and caustic 
soda and the carbonates above referred to, but all 
the compounds of these two metals resemble one 
another very closely. At one time potash, obtained 
from wood ash and the ashes of seaweed was the 



36 ALKALIES 

common form of alkali in use, and it is only com- 
paratively recent that the progress of chemical 
science has brought into use methods for obtain- 
ing the compounds of sodium from common salt. 
Consequently the alkaline materials obtained from 
sodium are now very much cheaper than the corre- 
sponding jDotassium compounds. As the letter 
''P" is used to denote phosphorus in chemical 
notation the first letter "K" of the Latin name 
of potassium (Kalium) is used as its symbol, so 
that the carbonates of potassium are written in 
chemical shorthand as : — 

KHCO3 Potassium Bicarbonate. 
K2CO3 Potassium Carbonate (potashes, 
pearlash, barilla, etc.). 

Unlike sodium carbonate, however, which, as just 
explained, crystallizes with ten parts of water, 
carbonate of potassium crystallizes with only two 
parts. Nevertheless, while ordinary washing soda 
will keep dry in an open vessel for any length of 
time, carbonate of potash attracts moisture from 
the air if not kept covered, and becomes sloppy. 

Caustic Ammonia. 

Curiously enough ammonia although it is a com- 
pound of nitrogen and hydrogen (see page 26) 
behaves just as if it were a metal like sodium or 
potassium and forms a compound with water — 



ALKALIES 37 

ordinary liquor ammonise — and a series of salts. 
These do not greatly concern the lannderer ; except 
as a matter of general interest. Liquor ammoniae, 
that is to say the solution of ammonia gas in 
water, which is in general use, corresponds chem- 
ically to caustic soda and caustic potash. 

Just as potassium and sodium hydrates (caustic 
potash and caustic soda) have the composition 

KOH and 
NaOH 

so ammonia gas when passed into water combines 
with it to form ammonium hydrate or caustic 
ammonia. 

NH4OH 

Although it behaves so much like caustic soda 
and caustic potash, ammonia does not possess the 
same destructive action on fibres. Consequently it 
possesses many advantages for laundry use, as it 
can be used for washing flannels and delicate 
fabrics, where caustic potash or soda or even 
washing soda would be out of the question. It 
must be remembered, however, that ammonia 
turns white silk yellow and has the same tendency 
on white flannels ; so that in spite of its advantage 
over the ''fixed" alkalies, ammonia must be used 
with caution. Besides ordinary caustic ammonia, 
that is to say, the liquor ammonise just referred to, 



38 ALKALIES 

ammonia forms carbonates, just like sodium and 
potassium. They are not used, at all events to any 
extent, in the laundry, as the liquid ammonia is 
more convenient. 

Borax. 

This is a suitable place to refer to another alka- 
line substance which is largely used in laundries, 
namely, borax. This is a compound of soda with 
boracic acid. Like carbonic acid, boracic acid is 
a very weak acid and soda is a very strong alkali^ 
Consequently the com^Dound of the acid and alkali 
results not in a neutral salt, as would be the case 
of the compound of soda with hydrochloric acid, 
but in an alkaline salt, v Borax acts very much like 
weak carbonate of soda and while it will soften 
water, neutralize acids, and act as a mild detergent 
has very little injurious action on fabrics. 

Too Much Alkali. 

Before leaving the subject of alkalies for the 
present, it would be well to say a word or two 
about one of the commonest^^perhaps the com- 
monest — fault of the launderer, namely, the use 
of an excess of alkali in the washing process. This 
is not only wasteful, but is one of the most usual 
causes of bad color and deterioration of linen. 
Careful experiments have shown that the habitual 
use of a hot solution of alkali, even when weak, 



ALKALIES 39 

has a destructive effect on the fibres of linen and 
cotton, especially the former. In most cases the 
use of an excess of alkali in the washer is due to 
either habit or ignorance, but some launderers 
of a scientific turn of mind may argue that because 
the mercerizing process, in which the cotton fibre 
is exposed to the action of strong alkali, actually 
strengthens the fibre, therefore the use of alkali 
in the wash water can have no injurious effect. 
It must be remembered, however, that the condi- 
tions are totally different ; in the case of the mer- 
cerization, the alkali, although strong, is used cold, 
and is thoroughly rinsed out of the fibre when the 
action is complete; while in the washing process, 
the alkali, although comparatively weak, is used 
hot and the last traces are not always removed in 
the rinsing. Furthermore, there is a danger of 
the concentration of the alkali under the heat of 
the iron, if not completely rinsed out, and its 
action on the fibre at the high temperature of the 
iron would be considerable. Eecent experiments 
show that even such a weak wash water as that 
containing 0.1 per cent, of sodium carbonate, that 
is to say, 1 lb. in 100 gallons of water, has an 
appreciable effect on the fibre if used repeatedly, 
as it would be in the ordinary round of the weekly 
wash, especially in yellowing it. I cannot point 
out too strongly the inadvisability of employing 
the excess of alkali, which is so dear to the heart 



40 ALKALIES 

of the average washman; it is remarkable how 
difficult it is to correct a bad practice which has 
gone on so long that it has become habitual. Car- 
bonate of soda is bad, but caustic soda, which is 
so largely used in America, is very much worse. 
I shall, however, deal with this matter more fully 
in the chapter on the "Chemistry of the Wash- 
room." 

The Action of Alkalies on Wool. 

Injurious as alkali is to linen and cotton, it is 
infinitely more so to wool and silk. So great is 
the injury done to these fabrics by alkali that the 
use of the fixed alkalies in washing woolens and 
silks should be rigorously excluded, ammonia 
being substituted. Potash salts are found occur- 
ring naturally to a considerable extent in wool, 
and carbonate of potash (pearlash) is therefore 
less injurious than carbonate of soda, but in spite 
of that it is not safe to use it ; ammonia is much 
more suitable. It is very advisable also to employ 
ammonia instead of soda when washing delicate 
linen or cotton goods, and especially in the case of 
colored fabrics. If the color happens to be affected 
by alkali, as is not infrequently the case, it is much 
more readily restored when ammonia is used than 
when a fixed alkali is employed. A fixed caustic 
alkali, such as caustic soda or caustic potash, is 
most destructive to woolen or silk fabrics, and 



ALKALIES 41 

even the carbonated alkalies, if used in even weak 
solutions, have a tendency to render woolen fabrics 
harsh to the feel. While the greasiest woolens can 
be cleaned by a neutral soap solution (given suffi- 
cient time for it to act), yet where it is necessary 
to employ an alkali, weak ammonia should be used. 
Even ammonia has a deteriorating action on silk, 
and where an alkali is necessary, weak borax, say 
i/^-lb to 10 gallons of wash water is the safest to 
employ. 



CHAPTER IV 

Acids 

So much for alkalies. Acids do not concern the 
launderer very much directly, but they do occa- 
sionally, and in any case it is necessary to under- 
stand something about acids, as it is essential to 
the proper comprehension of many other things. 
I explained above that in the case of one acid 
— ^hydrochloric — its composition was made up of 
one particle of hydrogen and one particle of an- 
other gas called chlorine, that is to say, hydro- 
chloric acid is chloride of hydrogen, just as com- 
mon salt is chloride of sodium. It is the distin- 
guishing feature of all acids without exception 
that they are salts of hydrogen. Thus sulphuric 
acid is hydrogen sulphate ; phosphoric acid, hydro- 
gen phosphate; acetic acid, hydrogen acetate; 
oxalic acid, hydrogen oxalate ; and so on. This is 
equally true of the fatty acids which combine with 
alkalies to make soap, as we shall see later on; 
oleic acid, for example, is hydrogen oleate. Where 
an acid is of simple composition, like hydrochloric 
acid, only one kind of salt is possible, but where 
the composition is less simple, as in the case of 

42 



ACIDS 43 

sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol), two kinds of salts 
are possible. In chemical shorthand, sulphuric 
acid, or hydrogen sulphate, is written 

XT SO4 

or, for convenience, H2SO4 and it will be seen 
from this, to compare it with hydrochloric acid, 

H— CI 

that there are two hydrogens which can come into 
operation to form salts. Thus : 

HCl Hydrochloric acid. 

NaCl Sodium Chloride. 

H2SO4 Sulphuric acid. 

NaHSOi Acid Sodium Sulphate. 

Na.SOi Normal Sodium Sulphate. 

Similarly : 

H2CO3 Carbonic acid (solution in 

water H^O— COo) 
NaHCOs Sodium Bicarbonate. 

NagCOs Sodium Carbonate (normal 

carbonate, washing soda, 
soda crystals, etc.). 
Strong and Weak Acids. 

What, to use a convenient term, is known as a 
strong acid, can turn out a weak acid and take its 
place as a rule in a chemical combination. For 
instance, carbonic acid is comparatively a weak 



44 ACIDS 

acid, and if a carbonate such as washing soda (car- 
bonate of soda) or chalk (carbonate of lime) be 
brought into contact with a strong acid, such as 
sulphuric acid, the carbonic acid is turned out and 
escapes as gas with much effervescence, while the 
sulphuric acid takes its place to form suljDhate of 
soda or sulphate of lime as the case may be. This 
is useful to the launderer in many ways. If he is 
using unsoftened water containing lime salts, this 
is very likely to be deposited in the linen, causing 
not only bad color, but actually destroying the 
fibre. Acid will remove this and, after rinsing, 
the fibre will be entirely free from deposits of 
lime. 
Lime and Lime Soap. 

This is such an important point that it would be 
well to say a little more about it. The most famil- 
iar form of carbonate of calcium, or carbonate of 
lime, as it is perhaps more usually called, is chalk, 
which, although apparently formless, is not really 
so ; under the microscope it will be seen to be com- 
posed of minute shells of tiny beings which are 
still found living in enormous quantities in the 
waters of the Atlantic and other oceans. When 
they die their shells fall to the bottom and form an 
ooze, which afterward becomes consolidated by 
pressure and forms chalk. There are, however, 
many well-known crystalline forms of carbonate 
of lime, such as marble and calc spar. When a 



ACIDS 45 

hard water is softened in a washing machine by 
means of soda or some other alkali, as it usually 
is in laundries which do not possess a water soft- 
ener, the lime salts are thrown out of solution as 
carbonate of lime. "While a good deal of this is 
in a loose, formless, powdery condition suspended 
in the water, an appreciable amount of it is depos- 
ited as tiny sharp crystals in the fibres of the 
linen, and when dry has a most destructive action 
in cutting to pieces and wearing away the fibres. 
Much of the apparently unaccountable rapid wear 
on linen goods is due to this cause, which very 
few launderers take into account. By giving the 
linen a soaking in weak acid after the first rinse, 
these lime crystals are dissolved and rendered 
harmless, being entirely removed in the last rinse. 
If this is not done, a fresh deposit of crystals takes 
place in each wash of the garment, so that 
although in a single wash the quantity of carbon- 
ate of lime deposited is hardly appreciable, it 
increases rapidly until finally it becomes a most 
serious agent in the destruction of the goods. 

There is another matter also in connection with 
this lime question, deserving of the most serious 
consideration ; I refer to deposit of lime soap. As 
I explained some little time ago soap is a salt just 
in exactly the same way that common salt (sodium 
chloride) is a salt; instead of a combination be- 
tween hydrochloric acid and soda, soap is formed 



46 ACIDS 

by a combination between soda and a vegetable 
fatty acid, such as oleic acid — the principal fatty 
acid found in olive oil; so that olive oil soap is 
sodium oleate, just as washing soda is sodium 
carbonate. 

We have seen that when washing soda and a 
lime salt come together, carbonate of lime is 
formed; an exactly similar thing happens when a 
lime salt and soap, the olive oil soap just referred 
to for instance, come into contact ; instead of the 
carbonate of lime, oleate of lime — lime soap — is 
formed. This is an insoluble pasty material 
which causes a launderer no end of trouble. It 
forms the well-known deposit in his washing ma- 
chine; it forms objectionable streaks and marks 
on his clean linen, and also the black specks which 
are not infrequent in the shirt fronts in some laun- 
dries using hard water ; and last, but not least, an 
habitual deposit of this lime soap, together with 
lime salts referred to above, cause the linen to 
possess a dull leaden color, instead of the pearly 
whiteness it ought to have. 

The easiest way to remove all this trouble is to 
put in a water softener, but without that, the acid 
bath after the first rinse will come to the laun- 
derer 's rescue. Its action upon the deposit of 
carbonate of lime has already been explained ; its 
action upon lime soap is very similar; the acid, 
being stronger, so to speak than the olive or other 



ACIDS 47 

fatty acid of the soap, throws it out of combina- 
tion, taking its place to form a salt with the lime. 
It is necessary to use the acid bath or acid rinse, 
hot, like the first rinse, otherwise the free fatty 
acid might form streaks of fatty matter on the 
linen, but if the water be hot, the globules of fatty 
matter are kept melted and carried off with the 
water. 

The Use of Acetic Acid. 

The next question arises as to which is the best 
acid to use for the acid rinse. Hydrochloric acid 
is not suitable, as in the hot water it would be 
somewhat volatile, and moreover the cheaper com- 
mercial forms of the acid contain iron, which 
would possibly help to discolor the linen. Sul- 
phuric acid is very suitable if used in proper pro- 
portion, but it is essential that it should be thor- 
oughly rinsed out; otherwise, if only quite a 
minute quantity of the acid be left in the fabric, it 
will concentrate when dry and char the fibres. 
Oxalic acid has many advantages and is largely 
used to follow the bleach, which seems to be an 
integral part of the average washing process in 
America, but this also, if not thoroughly removed, 
has an injurious action on fabrics. The best is 
acetic acid (known in the dilute state as vinegar). 
It is volatile, and any trace which may have been 
left in the goods will be completely driven off in 



48 ACIDS 

the drying room ; moreover, it possesses no injuri- 
ous action on the fibres. For ordinary work a 
quarter of a pint of the commercial acid should 
be used to each 10 gallons of water in the washing 
machine. After the acid rinse can come the ordi- 
nary cold rinse with blue. 

Acetic Acid. 

Commercial acetic acid is obtained from the 
distillation of wood, being known as pyroligneous 
acid. After purification it becomes acetic acid 
and is used for various commercial purposes, one 
of the most important being the adulteration of 
vinegar. In commerce it is usually sold in casks, 
and has a strength of about 40 per cent. This is 
the material the launderer should use. Glacial 
acetic acid is practically pure acid and possesses 
the property of crystallizing below a certain tem- 
perature. It is much more expensive than the 
ordinary commercial form and there is no advan- 
tage in employing it. 

Souring. 

In addition to its use, which I have just de- 
scribed, for removing lime after washing, acetic 
acid is usually employed for ''souring" after 
bleaching, in England, but oxalic acid is most 
favored in America — probably on account of con- 
venience of carriage. I will describe the action 
that takes place, when I come to bleaching. 



CHAPTER V 

Soaps 

It has already been explained that a soap is as 
much a salt as common salt. The latter is formed 
by a combination of soda with hydrochloric acid, 
while a soap is a compound of soda or some other 
alkali with what is known as a fatty acid. Just 
as soda is not the only alkali which can form a 
chloride, so it is not the only alkali which can 
form a soap. Nearly every metal, such as calcium 
(lime), lead or copper, forms a chloride, and simi- 
larly these metals are quite as capable of forming 
soaps ; although nearly all these soaps are insolu- 
ble in water. The animal and vegetable fats, of 
which there are a very large variety, resemble one 
another very closely ; all are compounds of glycer- 
ine with one or other of the fatty acids. These, 
while they vary a good deal in composition, are 
very similar in their broad characteristics; the 
free acids, from which the glycerine has been sepa- 
rated, being greasy, water repelling, and having 
in appearance, feel, taste and smell, nearly all the 
characters of the complete fats. Practically all 
fats can be used for soap making, and are, except 

49 



50 SOAPS 

where their cost is prohibitive. In addition to the 
ordinary well-known fats and oils, such as tallow, 
olive oil, linseed oil, rape oil, cotton seed, palm and 
other vegetable oils, a large number of oils now 
obtained from tropical trees find their way to 
the soapmaker. Moreover, fish oils are used for 
making the cheaper kinds of soft soap, their evil 
odor being disguised by the more powerful one of 
nitrobenzol, which gives the smell and flavor of 
almonds. 

Leaving fish oils out of the question as being 
quite unsuitable for laundry purposes on account 
of the evil smell they would inevitably leave be- 
hind, the value of a fat or oil for industrial pur- 
poses depends largely on its melting point, that is 
to say, on the amount of the fat known as stearin 
the oil contains. This fat on account of its hard- 
ness and high melting point is greatly valued for 
candle making, all the best candles, apart from 
wax candles, being made largely or wholly of this 
substance. As it has an important bearing on 
the subject I must devote a few more words to 
candlemaking before I deal with soapmaking 
itself. The first thing a candle maker does after 
cleaning the fat, is to separate the glycerine by 
treatment with steam at a high pressure, and thus 
secure the free fatty acid, or rather acids, for all 
natural oils and fats consist of a mixture of sev- 
eral fatty acids, the most common being oleic 



SOAPS 51 

acid (the predominant acid in olive oil), palmitic 
acid (the principal acid in palm oil), and stearic 
acid (the chief constituent of tallow and the heavy 
animal fats). By processes which I need not 
describe here, the heavy fatty acids are then 
separated from the lighter ones, the former being 
nsed for candles, while the latter are employed 
for soapmaking and for manufacturing purposes, 
such as lubricating worsted during spinning. This 
light fat or oil consists very largely of oleic acid, 
and is known commercially as ''red oil" on ac- 
count of its color. I shall have occasion to refer 
to it again later. 

Oils Used in Soapmaking. 

As might be expected the character of the soap 
— I am referring now to "hard" soaps — depends 
very much upon that of the oils or fats employed 
in its manufacture. A soap made from tallow 
which consists largely of stearin will be hard and 
solid, and will possess a high lathering power; 
while one made from olive oil will be compara- 
tively soft and will give a lighter lather. Although 
the lathering capabilities of a soap form one of 
the principal guides of the washman, yet this is a 
somewhat deceptive characteristic. Although an 
oil soap gives a comparatively poor lather it may 
be doing its work in the machine just as well as 
the mottled soap with a fine head of froth upon it. 



52 SOAPS 

Moreover, some vegetable oils which are not neces- 
sarily any better in their cleansing capabilities, 
give a very much stronger lather than others. 
Cotton seed oil, for example, when made into soap 
gives a good lather, while sesame oil, used very 
largely in making what are known as ' ' olive ' ' oil 
soaps gives a comparatively poor lather. 

Mineral Oils. 

To prevent confusion I may here say that the 
mineral oils, such as paraffin and petroleum, are 
not oils at all in the sense in which we have been 
using the word. Their composition is entirely 
different; they contain no glycerine and no fatty 
acid; they are what chemists call hydro-carbons, 
like coal gas or naphtha, and it is quite impossible 
to make soap from them. It is true they are some- 
times incorporated with soap in small quantities 
with a view to increasing its detergent properties, 
but this matter will be dealt with later. 

Hard and Soft Soaps. 

Not so very many years ago when chemical 
manufacture was in its infancy, the alkali for 
soapmaking was not soda, but potash, and was 
obtained from the ash of seaweed and other plants, 
but with the invention of processes for making 
soda from common salt, soda rapidly replaced 
potash for this purpose. Soaps made from soda 



SOAPS 53 

are comparatively solid, and are known as ''hard" 
soaps; while potash soaps are quite soft at ordi- 
nary temperatures and are known as "soft" 
soaps. A temporary soap can be made with 
ammonia, but this can only be used in solution. 
Nevertheless, it forms a very useful soap and I 
shall describe it later. "Yellow" soap is some- 
what different from ordinary hard soap and con- 
tains rosin, which replaces a certain proportion of 
fat. 

Soaps are made by two main processes, the 
"boiled" and the "cold" process. In the latter 
the caustic soda and the oils are mixed cold, or 
but little heated, and the heat produced by the 
chemical action is sufficient to carry out the 
process. This method is, however, only used on a 
very small scale by perfumers and small toilet 
soap vendors and has the disadvantage that the 
resulting soap always contains an appreciable 
amount of free alkali. 

Boiled soaps constitute well over 90 per cent of 
those on the market and are the only ones that 
need occupy the attention of the launderer. Soap- 
making now is conducted on an enormous scale, 
huge pans capable of making 20 to 30 tons of soap 
at a time being employed. Each pan is heated by 
two steam coils, one closed for heating purposes 
only and the other perforated, so that live steam 
can be blown direct into the liquid. This serves 



§4 SOAPS 

not only to supply heat, but to keep the mixture 
agitated while the operation is in progress. 

Boiled soaps are essentially of two kinds — 
''curd" soaps and "fitted" soaps. The best exam- 
ple of the latter is yellow soap. The first opera- 
tion in making curd soap is to run in the requisite 
amount of melted fat, which may consist entirely 
of tallow, or of tallow mixed with other fats. A 
weak solution of caustic soda is then run in and 
steam turned on. It is necessary to begin with a 
weak solution, as saponification will not commence 
with strong alkali. As soon as saponification is 
proceeding satisfactorily, more and stronger alkali 
or "lye" as the soapmaker calls it, is run in, and 
the operation is allowed to continue until nearly 
the whole of the fats are converted into soap. 

While soap is soluble in water it is not soluble 
in brine, and the next step is to throw into the pan, 
quantities of salt, which causes the soap to crys- 
tallize out at the top, the solution of the brine con- 
taining all the glycerine and impurities being at 
the bottom. This is now run oif and is a valuable 
asset to the soapmaker, as the lye is run over to 
the glycerine plant, where it is recovered and puri- 
fied. The demand for glycerine — chiefly for mak- 
ing dynamite — is very great, and the sale of the 
glycerine, which used at one time to be thrown 
away with the waste lyes, is now the most profit- 
able part of soapmaking. 



SOAPS 55 

When the lye has been run off, fresh strong 
alkali is added, and the soap is boiled np again to 
insure complete saponification. After this the 
soap is allowed to settle and is run off into large 
moulds or * 'frames" as the soapmaker calls them, 
where it cools and solidifies. The sides of the 
frame are then taken away, the solid block of soap 
being left, which is cut up into bars. 

Curd Mottled Soap. 

The fats used for making a good curd soap 
should contain not less than 60 per cent of tallow. 
On account of the process of manufacture, it 
always contains a certain amount of free alkali, 
but for ordinary laundry purposes this is no draw- 
back. Nevertheless, it forms an important reason 
why curd soap should not be used for washing 
flannels, woolens, colored goods or delicate fabrics. 
Mottled soap is, or should be, a curd soap. In 
the old days when chemical manufacture was in a 
crude state, the alkali employed contained several 
impurities including iron, which, when the soap 
was run out into the frames, settled out to form 
the well-known streaks or mottling. Nowadays 
the alkali contains no impurities of this kind to 
form the coloring matter, so that it has to be added 
artificially. Curd, mottled soap, is perhaps the 
safest soap for the average launderer to purchase 
for general use, as no means have yet been found 



56 SOAPS 

for adulterating it. The proper mottling cannot 
be obtained unless a pure soap is employed, and 
the launderer should notice the character of the 
mottling and see that the "strike" is sharp and 
not dirty. 

Soap Chips. 

A form of soap which is very popular in Amer- 
ica is known as soap chips, which contains very 
little water, and 70 per cent or more of fatty acid. 
Its great advantage is that there is practically no 
carriage to pay on water — a very important mat- 
ter considering the enormous distances it some- 
times had to travel. One of the drawbacks of this 
soap, however, is that a considerable separation 
of free fatty acid takes place on dissolving it, 
necessitating the addition of alkali to resaponify 
the fat and keep it dissolved. I shall deal further 
with this soap in the chapter on the washroom. 

Yellow Soap. 

Nearly all of the other soaps are fitted soaps, in- 
cluding yellow soap above mentioned. One of the 
principal constituents of this soap is rosin, which 
combines with alkali and acts very much after the 
manner of soap. For this reason, if present in 
proper proportion, the rosin should not be re- 
garded as an adulterant. Nevertheless, the quan- 
tity employed should not exceed 20 per cent of the 



SOAPS 57 

amount of fat. The process of making a fitted 
soap is very similar to that just described up to 
the point when the lye containing the glycerine is 
run off. The soap made thus is cleansed by adding 
water and boiling with steam. Strong brine is 
then run in and another boil given. When the 
correct point is reached, which requires a good deal 
of experience to determine, the brine is run off, 
a little water added, the whole is boiled with closed 
steam and the soap is run into frames to cool. 

Adulterations. 

This is the stage when the art of the sophisti- 
cator is brought into play. As soon as the soap 
is run into the frames, and before it has begun to 
cool — a process which takes place rather slowly — 
adulterants, such as silicate of soda, Glauber's 
salt, carbonate of soda, and — most important of 
all — water, can be added and "crutched" into 
the soap. The object of adding the other adul- 
terants is to disguise the addition of water and 
make the soap appear strong and solid, when as 
a matter of fact it contains a large proportion of 
water. It is indeed remarkable how much water 
soap can be made to hold, if added under proper 
conditions, and still appear solid. Some of the 
soaps on the market are little better than water 
standing upright. A great fillip [smart blow] to 
the manufacture and sale of this class of soap was 



68 SOAPS 

given a few years ago, by the increased importa- 
tion of cocoanut oil, which has a remarkable capa- 
city for holding water and yet appearing solid. 

Most of the quick washer soaps — "quick 
waster" soaps would perhaps be a better name — 
are made from a mixture of cocoanut and cotton 
seed oils. The mixture of these oils makes a very 
good soap, but the temptation to lower the price 
by the addition of water and so attract the unsus- 
pecting public is very great. This cocoanut-cot- 
ton-seed oil and water soap dissolves readily and 
lathers very freely, but is exceedingly wasteful. 
Our German friends describe it by the very appro- 
priate name of "schwindel" soap. One drawback 
to the use of cocoanut oil for soapmaking is that 
clothes washed with it always possess a somewhat 
unpleasant smell, and the well-known odor of 
washing-day is mostly due to the use of cocoanut 
oil soap. I will describe later how the launderer 
can estimate approximately the value of the soap 
he is buying and guard himself from the frauds 
most usually practiced. 

Oil Soaps. 

Olive oil makes excellent soap and it was prob- 
ably the first oil used in soapmaking. Mar- 
seilles and Castile soaps were made originally 
from olive oil, but nowadays sesame oil, made 
from the grain of that name, is largely employed 



SOAPS 59 

for making so-called olive oil soaps. These soaps 
are very good and are largely used in the laundry, 
where they possess many advantages. One draw- 
back is that they do not lather very freely and do 
not possess such strong detergent powers as tallow 
soaps, but as these soaps contain very little ste- 
arin it is very much easier to rinse the soap out of 
the goods than is the case with tallow soaps. More- 
over, partly for the same reason oil soaps are 
very suitable for washing flannels, colored goods 
and finery. They should contain no free alkali, 
and that is another important reason why they 
should be employed for the purposes just mem- 
tioned. 

Soft Soaps. 

Soft soaps are made in a very similar manner 
to hard soaps, potash being employed instead of 
soda. The best soft soaps are made from olive 
oil, but linseed oil makes very good soap. Many 
other vegetable oils, also such as rape oil, are used 
for making soft soap. While rosin may be con- 
sidered a normal constituent of yellow soap, it 
should be regarded as an adulterant if found in 
soft soap. 

Special Soaps and Soap Powders. 

Among special soaps I may mention first of all 
the soaps containing some of the lighter petro- 



60 SOAPS 

leum oil, which are now on the market. The oil 
is incorporated with the soap, usually at all events, 
by mechanical means after the soap is made. Ex- 
periments have shown that the addition of a 
small quantity of petroleum is a distinct help in 
the washing process, but, in the majority of in- 
stances, the smell of petroleum is very persistent, 
and even after it has apparently been completely 
removed will appear again on the clothes being 
warmed. 

Another special soap is the soap powder which 
appears on the market in many forms. In mak- 
ing this the soap is first of all dried in a special 
machine in which the soap, which is cut up into 
strips, travels through the machine on a con- 
tinuous wire band. This method is employed also 
for making soap chips. It is then ground to the 
finest power in a disintegrator. These powders, 
which usually consist of a mixture of soap and 
soda ash, with or without adulterants, vary very 
much in quality. Although there are a few good 
soap powders in the market, the majority are 
unqualified swindles. Like the little girl in the 
nursery rhyme ''When they are good they are 
very, very good ; but when they are bad they are 
horrid." Their value may be largely estimated 
by the amount of soap they contain. 

Another soap used to some extent in laundries 
consists of soap dissolved in methylated spirit. 



SOAPS 61 

This soap is very convenient for finery and special 
work, as it is, or should be, neutral, carbonate of 
soda being insoluble in alcohol. The spirit assists 
the detergent action of the soap, and I have seen 
some beautiful results from silk washed with a 
soap of this description, the fabric having a par- 
ticularly bright, fresh appearance. 

Still another soap is the benzine soap used for 
dry cleaning. This soap does not contain ben- 
zine, but is dried by special means, so that it con- 
tains no water and will dissolve readily in ben- 
zine, giving a clear solution. 

Ammonia Soap. 

While discussing special soaps I must not for- 
get to mention a very special soap, which laun- 
derers can make and use themselves without any 
difficulty. My readers will remember that I ex- 
plained in a previous chapter that a soap is a 
compound of an alkali with a fatty acid ; that the 
compounds of soda with fatty acids are hard 
soaps; while those of potash form soft soaps. 
Now ammonia acts almost exactly like caustic 
soda and caustic potash, although on account of 
its volatility it is not a fixed alkali. Ammonia 
forms compounds with free fatty acids, and al- 
though these are only of a temporary character, 
they are to all intents and purposes soaps and act 
just like soaps. By putting in his washer, oleic 



62 SOAPS 

acid and ammonia, the launderer has a soap ready 
made. Oleic acid requires for saponification 6.0 
per cent by weight of ammonia, that is to say, 
10 lbs. of oleic acid require approximately 1^/^ 
pints of strong ammonia solution (specific gravity 
0.884). In order to make quite sure that the 
ammonia is there in sufficient quantity, it would 
be advisable to add a slight excess. The deter- 
gent powers of this ammonia soap (10 lbs. oleic 
acid and li4 pints of ammonia) would be equiva- 
lent to that of 13 lbs. or 14 lbs. of good oil soap. 
The oleic acid referred to is, as I have mentioned 
previously, the waste material from the candle 
works, and is known commercially as "red oil." 

Monopol and Tetrapol Soaps. 

Before I leave the subject of soaps I must not 
forget to mention the Monopol and Tetrapol soaps 
which are coming so much into use among cleaners 
and dyers. Monopol soap is a superfatted sul- 
phonal castor oil soap and Tetrapol soap is a 
liquid soap made by mixing the above with carbon 
tetrachloride. The chapter on "Dyes and Dye- 
ing" will explain a little what a sulphonated com- 
pound is. This particular soap has great advan- 
tages from the wet cleaner's point of view. It 
will mix with water in all proportions, does not 
form insoluble compounds with lime (lime soaps), 



SOAPS 63 

has remarkable grease dissolving properties, and 
does not affect the most delicate colors. 

Valuing Soap. 

Now for some instructions as to the estimation 
of the value of the soap the launderer is using. 
Although the comj)lete analysis of a soap is a 
complicated matter requiring extensive knowledge 
of chemistry and considerable analytical experi- 
ence, it is a comparatively easy matter to arrive 
at a rough estimate of the value of any particular 
soap in a few moments. As I have explained 
above, the value of soap can for all practical pur- 
poses be gauged by the amount of fatty acid 
which it contains, and it is quite a usual thing to 
see a soap quoted as containing so much per cent 
of fatty acid. The easiest way to form a rough 
estimate of this amount is to have two tall glass 
jars of exactly the same pattern and to make up 
a standard solution of any well-known and 
thoroughly reliable soap, dissolving say, four 
ounces of this soap in water and making it up 
to exactly a quart. 

When it is desired to test the value of a new 
consignment or new sample of soap, half an ounce 
should be carefully weighed out from the middle 
of the bar, and dissolved in water and placed in 
one of the tall jars. At the same time 5 fluid 
ounces (i/4 pint) of the standard solution should 



64 SOAPS 

be placed in the other jar and sufficient dilute 
sulphuric acid added to each jar to decompose 
the soap and throw down the fatty acid, which 
will immediately appear as a thick white, flocculent 
[wooly] precipitate. When this has been done, 
plain water must be added to each jar until the 
liquid in both jars is exactly the same height. 
After standing for, say ten minutes for the pre- 
cipitate to settle, a glance will show how the 
amount of fatty acid in the two soaps compares. 
If a soap contains its proper proportion of fatty 
acid it is not likely to have much the matter with 
it in other respects. Fuller instructions for the 
analysis of soap will be found in the chapter on 
*' Practical Chemical Works." 

Warnings. 

In valuing soap and soap powders there are 
certain things for which the launderer should 
always keep a watch. If he is buying a mottled 
soap, for example, he should see that he gets a 
"curd" mottled soap and not a "fitted" soap, 
which is only an imitation, being usually made 
from oil instead of principally from tallow. The 
difference in the appearance of the mottling be- 
tween a real and a sham mottled soap should be 
enough to warn any observant launderer as to 
what he is dealing with. It is not necessarily 
that the sham mottled soap is a bad soap ; it may 



SOAPS 65 

have its full allowance of fatty acids, and yet, as 
the value of the oil from which it is made is so 
much less than that of the tallow from which it 
ought to have been made, the launderer may have 
a very bad bargain in buying it. If he purchases 
an oil soap as an oil soap, well and good, but if 
he purchases it as a curd soap he is probably not 
getting his money's worth. 

Secondly, never buy a watered soap. You al- 
ways get much better value if you buy a pure soap. 
It is not worth anybody's while to pay carriage, 
maker's profit and traveller's commission on 
water. 

Thirdly, take care that the soap you use for 
your flannels and colored goods is neutral. The 
test for this will be found on another page. 

Fourthly, I have seen it stated that '^yellow" 
or rosin soaps gradually cause a brown color in 
linen. I have considerable doubt about the truth 
of this in practice, as I have seen linen which has 
been washed over and over again with yellow 
soap, still have an excellent color. 

Fifthly, keep a careful watch on the smell of 
the soap you are using. Any unpleasant odor, 
however slight, has an inconvenient way of lin- 
gering in the clean linen and there is nothing more 
likely to cause adverse comment on the laundry 
and its methods than sending home clean linen 
with an unpleasant smell in it. For this reason 



66 SOAPS 

it is never safe to use petrol or benzine or any 
soap containing petroleum in any form in the 
washroom, except possibly for some particularly 
dirty articles washed under exceptional circum- 
stances. Even if the smell does not appear to be 
present when cold it will often reappear as soon 
as the article is warmed. 

Lastly, take care not to use a soap or washing 
compound containing silicate of soda. I am con- 
tinually receiving, for advice, specimens of table 
linen which have been absolutely ruined with 
washing compounds of this description. 



CHAPTER VI 

Bleaching 

Bleaching should not be a regular part of the 
laundry process, as, if the washing is properly 
carried out, bleaching should not be necessary, 
except in the case of certain articles which are 
stained, such as table linen, or articles which have 
been badly washed at other laundries and are 
properly treated for the first time. Where, as is 
unfortunately so often the case, excess of alkali is 
used in washing and the linen becomes yellow, 
it is necessary to bleach it frequently; otherwise 
its bad color becomes very objectionable. Also 
where shirts, collars and body linen have been 
badly washed, and the organic stains fixed in the 
fabrics by heat applied too soon, it is necessary 
to remove these stains by bleaching. 

The Nature of Bleaching. 

Before describing the different materials and 
methods used for bleaching, it would be well for 
the reader to understand the essence of the proc- 
ess. In the first place a colored substance is 
produced by a definite chemical combination and 

67 



68 BLEACHING 

if that combination can be destroyed, the color 
will be destroyed too. Many dyes, for example, 
such as phenolphthalein, are colored only in the 
presence of alkalies or of acids as the case may be, 
and in nearly all instances further oxidation will 
form a compound which is colorless. This is 
not always so, for some colors, such as those 
produced by the naphthol dyes, cannot be des- 
troyed by oxidation. In these cases the opposite 
course must be pursued, and instead of attempting 
to destroy the color by adding oxygen to the com- 
pound, oxygen must be taken away from it; that 
is to say, to use chemical language, it must be 
reduced. Bleaching with chlorine or its compounds 
is an instance of oxidation, and bleaching with 
burnt sulphur or hydradite or titanous chloride 
is an instance of reduction. An even simpler and 
more understandable method of oxidation is 
bleaching by means of hydrogen peroxide and I 
propose to take this first. 

Hydrogen Peroxide. 

Water, as explained previously, is a compound 
of one particle of oxygen with two of hydrogen, 
thus: H — — H. By certain chemical means, 
which I need not enter into here, it is possible to 
work in another atom of oxygen, so that a com- 
pound such as this is formed: H — — — H 
which contains two atoms of oxygen instead of 



BLEACHING 69 

one. This extra atom is held very loosely, and if 
any readily oxidizable substance be present that 
substance takes up the extra atom and becomes 
oxidized at once, while the chemical compound 
in question, which is known as hydrogen peroxide, 
returns to the condition of ordinary water. Thus 
bleaching with hydrogen peroxide is a case of 
oxidation in its simplest form. 

Hydrogen peroxide is usually sold in two 
strengths, known as 12 volume and 20 volume, 
which signifies that, say, a pint of 12 volume 
hydrogen peroxide is capable of giving off 12 pints 
of oxygen when decomposed, or 20 pints in the 
case of the 20 volume. As may be supposed, on 
account of its composition, neither form is very 
permanent, but the 12 volume, which is propor- 
tionately cheaper in price, is much more per- 
manent than the 20 volume, and is best for the 
launderer's purpose. For general use in taking 
stains out of flannels, blankets, or finery of any 
kind, a 10 per cent solution of the 12 volume 
strength may be used just as it is. In order to 
make the peroxide keep better a small quantity of 
acid — usually phosphoric acid — is added, as this 
renders the solution much more permanent. "When 
using it for laundry purposes it is a good plan to 
add a pinch of chalk or whitening to neutralize 
this acid. 



70 . BLEACHING 

Sodium Peroxide. 

Just as sodium will replace the H's in water, so 
it will in hydrogen peroxide, and sodium peroxide 
(Na202) is formed. It is a well-known commer- 
cial product, and possesses the advantage over the 
liquid peroxide in being much more permanent. 
When dissolved in water and treated with acid it 
acts in exactly the same manner as hydrogen 
peroxide. 

Nascent Oxygen. 

One of the reasons to which hydrogen peroxide 
is believed to owe its strong oxidizing properties 
is that the oxygen is set free from the peroxide 
exactly at the spot where it is to be used and is 
in what chemists call the '^ nascent" condition, 
that is, the oxygen atoms have not formed any 
combinations among themselves, so that all their 
energies are available. It must always be re- 
membered when bleaching or taking stains out of 
any fabric, that the oxygen atoms are no 
respectors of persons, so to speak, and will oxidize 
anything that is open to attack, whether it be the 
stain you want removed or the coloring matter 
with which the garment is dyed. Nevertheless, 
the majority of dyes are less readily open to 
attack as a rule than the matter which causes the 
stain, so that if the launderer proceeds judi- 
ciously he can generally succeed in removing the 



BLEACHING 71 

one without interfering much with the other. The 
important thing in applying all bleaches and stain 
removers is to confine their actions as closely as 
may be to the spot where the stain rests, and to 
rinse them out directly their work is accomplished, 
before they have time to turn their attention to 
the coloring matter in the garment. 

Sodium Perborate. 

Quite recently a new and most valuable oxidiz- 
ing substance has appeared upon the market. 
Sodium perborate has been known for some time 
in the laboratory, but has only just become cheap 
enough to make it available for general use. It 
is by far the best and most convenient bleaching 
agent yet introduced for laundry purpose^;.'' It 
is a white powder and bears the same relation to 
ordinary borate, (borax) as sodium peroxide 
does to sodium oxide, the extra proportion of 
oxygen being directly available for stain remov- 
ing. Sodium perborate, if kept dry and in a cool 
place, is quite permanent and all that has to be 
done to make it ready for use, is to dissolve it in 
water. When it has given up its oxygen, it goes 
back to ordinary borax, which is almost innocuous 
even to silks and flannels and can be used for re- 
moving stains from these fabrics as well as from 
cotton and linen goods. Its value is being so 
widely recognized that a number of compounds 



72 BLEACHING 

containing it are being placed upon the market 
under fancy names. 

Chlorine Bleaches. 

I now come to describe the chlorine bleaches, 
and it will be interesting to note that the active 
agent in the bleaching here again is oxygen, which 
is set free by the action of the chlorine. But 
before proceeding further I must give a short 
description of chlorine itself. If a drop of strong 
hydrochloric acid be placed in a test tube, two 
or three drops of strong nitric acid be added, and 
the mixture be warmed, the tube will be filled 
with a yellowish-green, intensely irritating, suffo- 
cating gas. This gas, which is chlorine, is a 
simple substance, like hydrogen or oxygen. It 
has a great affinity for hydrogen, and if a mixture 
of the two be brought into strong light they will 
unite with explosive force. It is this tendency to 
combine with oxygen (forming hydrochloric acid 
HCl) which is the essence of its use in bleaching. 
"When brought into contact with moisture, chlo- 
rine gradually decomposes it, forming hydro- 
chloric acid, and setting the oxygen free. It is this 
oxygen which exerts the bleaching action. Chlorine 
itself is too corrosive and dangerous to use for 
commercial purposes, except in special instances, 
so that some of its compounds, known as hypo- 
chlorites, are usually employed. 



BLEACHING 73 

Bleaching Powder. 

The best known of the bleaching agents which 
have chlorine as their active constituent is chloride 
of lime, or bleaching powder, which is made by 
passing chlorine gas over slaked lime in brick 
chambers, special precautions being taken to keep 
the temperature as low as possible ; for, if the tem- 
perature be allowed to rise, a considerable amount 
of chlorate of lime is formed, which is quite use- 
less for bleaching purposes, and if present in 
large excess might possibly be dangerous. 

Bleaching powder varies very much in quality, 
the best powder being almost dry and powdery 
and containing about 38 per cent available 
chlorine. Poorer qualities may contain much less 
chlorine, and are frequently quite moist and full 
of large lumps. Solutions of bleaching powder, 
which by the way, is a hypochlorite of lime, are 
sometimes used in the laundry, and if employed, 
great care must be taken to obtain a clear solution 
free from any suspended lime. Bleaching powder 
always contains a certain amount of free caustic 
lime, and if this gets on to any fabric, the results 
will be disastrous. If solution of bleaching 
powder be employed, it must be a very weak one, 
a 2 per cent solution being quite strong enough. 

For general laundry purposes, however, it is 
usually more convenient to employ the compound 



74 BLEACHING 

known as hypochlorite of soda, which a launderer 
can buy in strong solution, or make for himself 
from bleaching powder. In the latter case, a 
solution of ordinary washing soda or dry alkali 
is mixed with the proper proportion of bleach- 
ing powder previously worked up into a fine state 
with water, condensed or distilled if possible. 
The soda and the lime change places, forming 
carbonate of lime and hypochlorite of soda, which 
can be put into a tank or other suitable vessel 
and kept for use as wanted. As, however, the 
quantity of bleaching solution required in a 
laundry is, or should be, very small, the launderer 
will usually find it more convenient to buy his 
bleaching solution ready made, as it saves him 
a good deal of trouble. He can then dilute the 
strong solution as he requires it. The chemical 
way of writing sodium hydrochlorite is NaClO, 
and when this comes in contact with any sub- 
stance which is readily oxidizable, the compound 
parts with its oxygen, becoming converted into 
ordinary sodium chloride or common salt — NaCl. 
Chlorine bleaches do not interfere with the 
action of the soap, and the diluted bleaching solu- 
tion may be put in the machine with the second 
soap. It is always found that it works much 
better after the excess of dirt and grease have 
been removed by the first wash. The bleaching 
should be followed by an acetic acid bath in the 



BLEACHING 75 

second rinse, as this helps greatly to get rid of 
any traces of bleaching material still left in the 
goods and to improve the color. As a matter 
of practice, the action of all chlorine bleaches is 
fonnd to prove destructive, even to cotton fibres, 
if used upon them much, the chemical action not 
being really quite so simple as it is usually repre- 
sented in text books, or for the sake of con- 
venience in explaining matters to learners. Al- 
though the dirt stains are first attacked by the 
bleaching solution, this soon proceeds to attack 
the fibres and also to oxidize them. For this 
reason, bleaching should only be resorted to in 
case of absolute necessity, and not as a regular 
part of the laundry process. Most of the chlorine 
bleaches on the market are made by passing 
chlorine into a solution of caustic soda which is 
kept cool to prevent the wasteful formation of 
chlorate. 

Electrolytic Bleaches. 

The principle of producing a bleaching liquor 
by electrolysis, is, by passing an electric current 
through sea water or a solution of common salt. 
It is only quite recently that a practical apparatus 
has been placed upon the market. The effect of 
the passing of the current is to break up the salt 
into its elements sodium and chlorine. The sodium 
reacts with the water, to produce caustic soda, 



ij-g BLEACHING 

and the chlorine to produce hypochlorous acid, 
HCIO. This unites more oi less with the caustic 
soda to form sodium hypochlorite, NaClO, but 
I am inclined to think there is always a large 
quantity of hypochlorous acid in the free state. 
It is the best chlorine bleaching agent, and is 
comparatively harmless, besides being a very 
powerful antiseptic and deodorant. 

Reduction. 

"While I am writing of bleaching, it would per- 
haps be well to say a few words of the opposite 
process. Bleaching with cUorine or with hy- 
drogen peroxide is, as I have already explained, 
a process of oxidation. Now while the majority 
of natural coloring matters will yield to this 
process and become decolorized, there are a good 
many dyes in use upon which oxidizing compounds 
produce little or no effect, and if it should so 
happen that white goods become stained pink or 
any other color through contact with fabrics dyed 
with the substances referred to, the launderer will 
find it quite impossible to remove the color with 
any of the ordinary bleaching substances in gen- 
eral use. In order to get rid of the dye he must 
use the opposite method; instead of endeavoring 
to give the dye more oxygen, he must take oxgyen 
away from it, and there are two or three ways 
of doing this. 



BLEACHING 77 

Most launderers are more or less familiar with 
the burnt sulphur process, used so largely for 
blankets and straw hats. In this case the articles 
are suspended in a chamber filled with the fumes 
of burnt sulphur, which has exactly the opposite 
effect to chlorine bleaches or hydrogen peroxide. 
While these are perfectly ready and anxious to 
part with their oxygen to any other substance 
which wants it, burnt sulphur — known chemically 
as sulphur dioxide or sulphurous acid — is itself 
hungering for oxygen, and is prepared to rob any 
other body of it where possible. 

Consequently when a launderer fails to remove 
a stain with the other bleaches he should try 
sulphurous acid. This must not be confused with 
sulphuric acid, which is a different substance al- 
together. The sulphur dioxide can be obtained 
liquefied under pressure in syphons, just like soda 
water, and this form has its conveniences, but, 
generally speaking, the launderer will find it 
most convenient to make his sulphurous acid him- 
self from sodium sulphite, which is a compound of 
soda with sulphurous acid. If another acid, such 
as dilute sulpuric acid be added to a solution of 
sodium sulphite, sulphurous acid is set free. 
Sodium sulphite can be obtained at any photo- 
graphic dealers for a few cents a pound. After 
the stain has been removed it is only necessary to 



78 BLEACHING 

rinse the article in hot water, as sulphurous acid 
is easily removed. 

There is a class of substances, known as stable 
hydrosulphites. These have a similar but better 
action than sulphurous acid and are largely used 
by cleaners and dyers. They go under various 
trade names, such as hydraldite, ronalite, etc. 

An even more powerful reducing agent, that is 
to say, a substance which will take up oxygen, is 
titanous chloride, which is sometime sold under 
the name of ''stripping salts." Colors are dis- 
charged by it with great rapidity, and it has no 
injurious action on fabrics. On account of its 
scarcity, however, this substance is very expen- 
sive, and can only be used for removing stains or 
doing special work. Solution of titanous chloride 
is so useful for stain removing that it should be 
kept in every laundry ready for emergencies. 



CHAPTEE VII 

Stains, and Theie Removal 

Judging from the queries I receive, stains and 
their removal offer one of the most serious prob- 
lems with which the launderer has to deal, and 
the consideration of the subject comes in its 
natural place after treating of the different kinds 
of bleaching reagents. As a general rule, to 
which, however, there are a few important excep- 
tions, the principal difficulty, from a chemical 
point of view, is not the removal of the stain, but 
the finding out the nature of the stain. When 
once this is known, the task of removal proceeds 
on perfectly well known lines, except in those 
cases where the stain can only be removed by re- 
moving the fabric as well. 

The first thing which should always be done 
when a stained fabric has to be dealt with, is to 
endeavor to ascertain the nature of the stain ; and 
the experiments should always be conducted on a 
small portion of the stained area, and, whenever 
possible, on that portion which is least likely 
to attract the attention of the observer when the 
article is in use. What the launderer frequently 

79 



80 STAINS, AND THEIE REMOVAL 

does, is to try, first one thing and then another 
on the whole of the fabric, instead of proceeding 
by making little tests as just recommended. The 
consequence of this is that if his methods are not 
almost immediately successful, as not infrequently 
happens, he runs the risk of doing considerable 
damage to the fabric. 

There are so many ways in which stains may oc- 
cur, and so many different kinds of fabrics — white 
and colored — upon which the stains may be, that 
more often than not, the satisfactory removal of 
a stain requires the services of an expert, pro- 
perly-trained chemist; but by carefully following 
out instructions, taking care to mix as much 
brains as possible with the chemicals, there is no 
reason why a launderer should not achieve a satis- 
factory amount of success in dealing with stains. 

For testing purposes, the launderer should 
possess at least the following: — 

Dilute hydrochloric acid, the strong, pure acid 
diluted 1 to 10 parts of water ; hydrogen peroxide, 
or sodium perborate — the latter for preference — 
methylated spirit; solution of methyl orange 
(dye); chloroform; benzine; bleaching powder; 
sodium sulphite; potassium ferrocyanide solu- 
tion; stripping salts. Most of these chemicals 
are required not only for making the tests, but 
for removing the stains also. 



STAINS, AND THEIE REMOVAL 81 

Acids and Alkalies. 

In making the tests, the first thing to do is to 
ascertain whether the stain is acid, alkaline or 
neutral. Dip the stained portion in a little dis- 
tilled water in a saucer, and add one or two drops 
of the solution of methyl orange. If the color 
changes to yellow, alkali is present; if to red, 
acid is there. A test can, of course, be made with 
litmus paper, but the test just indicated is much 
more delicate. The quantity of acid or alkali 
discoverable in the fabric, even if it had been 
brought in contact with considerable quantities in 
the first instance, would probably be very small, 
and might not seem to change the color of litmus 
paper. The dye known as phenol-phthalein is 
very useful as a test for alkali ; in neutral or acid 
solutions it is quite colorless, but the least trace 
of alkali develops a very marked rose color. If 
it is found that acid is present, it should be re- 
moved by ammonia or weak carbonate of soda 
(washing soda). If the stain be alkaline, it may 
yield to acetic acid, but in all probability it will 
be necessary to bleach it with bleaching powder 
solution, hypochlorite of soda, hydrogen peroxide 
or sodium perborate, according to whether the 
material is linen (or cotton) or wool. 
Aniline Dyes. 

If the stain be of a pink or other marked bright 
color, it is probably due to either a fruit stain or 



82 STAINS, AND THEIE EEMOVAL 

to an aniline dye. In the former case, it should 
be removed by sodium perborate or bleaching 
powder, which will also in many cases remove 
aniline dyes. If it will not yield to this treat- 
ment, try sulphite of soda dissolved in water, to 
which is added some hydrochloric acid. The pro- 
portions required would be 1 ounce of sulphite, 
half an ounce of hydrochloric acid or oxalic acid, 
if hydrochloric is not available, i/. gallon of water. 
If this fails, try titanous chloride solution. As 
a preliminary to these operations it is always well 
in the case of pink or other stains, which appear 
to be due to fruit or a dye, to try the effect of 
alcohol. This will sometimes remove them by 
itself, and in the case of fruit stains the alcohol, 
even if it will not remove the stain, will dissolve 
the sugar and gummy or resinous substances 
present, and thus render the subsequent task of 
removing the color easier. 

Green Stains. 

Green stains, due to leaves, will very often 
come out with alcohol. This should be followed 
by a little peroxide or perborate. 

Chloroform is often of considerable assistance 
in removing stains of the characters just de- 
scribed. This used with alcohol will take out a 
great many vegetable stains and many dyes. 



STAINS, AND THEIR BEMOVAL 83 

Walnuts. 

stains on table linen are sometimes caused by 
walnuts, either fresh or pickled, and are due to 
tannin. They are best destroyed by the mixture 
of acid and sulphite of soda described above. 

Photographic Stains. 

Photographic stains are of a very similar char- 
acter to those caused by walnuts, and can usually 
be removed by the mixture of acid and sulphite. 
Sometimes, though not often nowadays, photo- 
graphic stains are due to silver nitrate, in which 
case they must be treated in the same manner as 
marking ink (which see). 

Iron Stains. 

Iron stains frequently trouble the launderer. 
They may be due to various causes, the iron being 
derived either from the water, the outer case of a 
metal washing machine, a galvanized tank, which 
has been allowed to go rusty, or from the steam 
pipes, etc. More than one case has come under 
my notice where many of the goods washed at tlie 
beginning of the week or in a particular washing 
machine have been badly stained with iron. This 
was eventually traced to the condensed water in 
the steam pipe, which had been lying over the 
week-end and contained a considerable amount of 
iron rust. As soon as steam was turned on, this 



84 STAINS, AND THEIR REMOVAL 

water with the iron was blown into the washer 
and stained the linen badly. Quite a considerable 
proportion of the stained articles submitted to me 
contain iron. 

The test for iron is a very simple one ; the mate- 
rial is treated with a few drops of dilute hydro- 
chloric acid to dissolve the supposed iron (which 
is nearly always present as oxide or hydrate) and 
then one or two drops of solution of potassium 
ferrocyanide are added. If iron be present, a blue 
color (Prussian blue) will be produced. The 
removal of iron stains is effected by means of acid. 
If reasonably fresh, they will come out with acetic 
acid or oxalic acid (1 in 20), but if long standing 
and thoroughly boiled into the goods, the stains 
are not at all easy to remove. In such a case, 
hydrochloric acid must be resorted to, care being 
taken to rinse out the acid as soon as it has done 
its work. One of the advantages of the acetic acid 
bath in the second rinse, is that it will remove any 
fresh iron stains as well as lime, and prevent any 
likelihood of serious trouble from this cause. 

Copper Stains. 

Copper stains sometimes occur in the laundry. 
They usually consist of copper soap off some cop- 
per vessel used in the laundry, and I had a case 
recently of some window curtain blinds, which 
had been washed with the brass rings on, and the 



STAINS, AND THEIR EEMOVAL 85 

copper soap formed in the washer had stained the 
fabric badly in the neighborhood of the rings. 
The best way to remove it is with hydrochloric 
acid (1 in 10) taking care to remove the acid, after 
the stain has been destroyed, by thorough rinsing. 
If it is not known for certain that the stain is 
due to copper, but its presence is only suspected, 
the best test is to dissolve a little of the stain in 
hydrochloric acid and add a few drops of potas- 
sium ferrocyanide ; if copper be present a reddish 
brown precipitate, looking rather like red current 
jelly, will be produced, or if only in very small 
quantity, a red coloration. 

Writing Ink. 

Among the most common stains in a laundry are 
those of writing ink. This liquid is made by mix- 
ing an infusion of galls with solution of sulphate 
of iron or green vitriol. So long as it is preserved 
from the air, this solution is practically colorless, 
but as it combines with oxygen, it gradually turns 
black. The consequence of this is that the manu- 
facturers are obliged to add a coloring matter to 
the ink, known as a ''provisional coloring matter" 
and this consists usually of aniline dye, from 
which the inks derive their name of blue-black, 
violet-black, etc., according to the nature of the 
dye employed. AVlien the ink dries and is exposed 
to the air jet^ black tannate of iron is formed in 



86 STAINS, AND THEIR EEMOVAL 

the course of a day or two. A fresh ink stain can 
almost be washed out, the remaining coloring mat- 
ter, which consists almost entirely of the aniline 
dye, being readily removed by solution of bleach- 
ing powder or sodium hypochlorite, or perborate. 
Long standing- ink stains will frequently yield to 
this treatment also. Another method is to dis- 
solve the stain with solution of oxalic acid (1 in 
10) neutralizing the acid with sodium carbonate 
(washing soda) or ammonia directly the stain 
has been removed, to insure that any acid not 
rinsed out shall not act upon the fibres. If any 
iron still remains on neutralizing, a brown spot 
will probably appear, which must be removed 
by a further treatment with acid and again neu- 
tralizing. The spot should always be well rinsed 
after treatment. It should be remembered that 
many writing inks, if allowed to remain long, have 
a very bad effect upon the fibres and such spots 
are always liable to go into holes. 

Marking Ink (Silver). 

Marking ink stains form another frequent prob- 
lem for the launderer, and a very difficult prob- 
lem, too. The essential portion of marking ink, 
as in the case of the writing ink just referred to, 
is colorless in most cases, consisting of a solution 
of a silver compound which darkens on exposure 
to light, forming within the fibres an insoluble 



\ 



STAINS, AND THETK KEMOVAL 87 

black pigment, and the coloring matter which is 
present in fresh marking ink is due to suspended 
carbon, which enables the person using it to see 
what he is writing, the actual silver pigment ap- 
pearing later as described. This silver pigment 
is of a very permanent character, and very diffi- 
cult to remove; in many cases it is practically 
impossible to move it without destroying the fibre 
as well. In most cases, the task of removing 
marking ink is one of such difficulty that it can 
only be attempted with success by an expert an- 
alytical chemist. One method of removing mark- 
ing ink is to treat the stain, first of all, with solu- 
tion of iodine, which, if it acts, changes the silver 
into iodide, and then to remove this with cyanide 
of potassium solution. This substance is fright- 
fully poisonous, and is dangerous "to have about 
the house" if it can be avoided. Another method, 
which is always a last resource, is to treat the 
stain with strong hydrochloric acid, which con- 
verts the silver into chloride, and to treat this 
immediately with strong ammonia, which dissolves 
it. In most cases marking ink stains are best left 
alone, as attempts to eradicate them as a rule only 
make matters worse. 

Grease Stains. 

Grease stains which will not come out in the 
ordinary process of washing are best removed 



38 STAINS, AND THEIE REMOVAL 

with carbon tetrachloride, a heavy, volatile, color- 
less liquid, which is an excellent solvent for grease, 
and possesses the advantage over benzine that it 
is not inflammable. As it is much more poisonous 
than chloroform, however, great care must be 
taken in using it. In taking out grease stains it 
must be remembered that candle grease nowadays, 
except in the best candles which are made of 
stearin or rarely of wax, consists largely or wholly 
of paraffin, which is quite unaffected by soap and 
water, but dissolves readily in carbon tetra- 
chloride. 

Many people in using a solvent for the removal 
of grease take some of the liquid on a pad of 
some material and rub the spot with it. This is 
quite the wrong way to go to work. If the stains 
are small in area, the best way is to place a pad 
of blotting paper under the stained spot and drop 
the solvent on the top. If the stain is extensive, 
put a little of the solvent in a basin and dip the 
stained portion of the fabric in it; then squeeze 
it out and dip again until the stain is removed, 
giving the spot a final rinse with some fresh, clean 
solvent. 

Paint Stains. 

Paint usually consists of some insoluble color- 
ing matter, such as barytes or umber, mixed with 
a vegetable drying oil, usually linseed. When the 



STAINS, AND THEIK KEMOVAL 89 

oil is exposed to the air, it *' dries," that is to say, 
becomes oxidized into a hard varnish, which not 
only fixes the coloring matter in its place, but acts 
as a protective covering to the wood or iron work 
upon which it is spread. In order to remove paint 
stains, it is necessary to use a solvent, such as car- 
bon tetrachloride or benzine, to dissolve this dried 
oil. On account of the nature of the material, it is 
necessary to rub the stain with a pad of cloth 
dipped in the solvent. Comparatively fresh paint 
stains come out fairly easily, but when they are 
long standing they are not at all easy to move. 
Strong ammonia is a distinct help in the removal 
of paint, oil and grease stains. 

In removing tar or heavy grease stains, it is a 
great help to rub the stain with a soft fat, like 
butter or cocoanut oil, and then remove the two 
together with carbon tetrachloride or benzine. 

Printing" Ink. 

Printing ink is an oil varnish, containing lamp 
black, or some other coloring matter, and must be 
treated in the same way as an ordinary oil paint. 

Blood and Albuminous Stains. 

Blood and albuminous stains, that is to say all 
stains from the human bod}^, are removed in much 
the same manner, namely, by soaking in cold or 
very lukewarm water with a little weak alkali. 



90 STAINS, AND THEIR EEMOVAL 

Albumen is coagulated by heat at quite a mod- 
erate temperature, and when once it has reached 
this stage it is not at all easy to remove. The 
yellow stains which frequently appear on collars 
and cuffs are due to rubbing against the skin, and 
are of an albuminous nature. Where they have 
been boiled into the linen the only way to remove 
them is by bleaching with a hypochlorite. Strong- 
ammonia is of great assistance in removing all 
stains of this nature. Blood stains due to venous 
blood usually come away quite easily by soaking 
in tepid water with ammonia or other alkali, but 
arterial blood appears to form some compound 
with the fibres, and is much more difficult to re- 
move. Ammonia is the best solvent, and even 
obstinate blood stains can usually be removed by 
prolonged treatment, followed by a little oxalic 
acid and thorough rinsing. Old blood stains, 
whether venous or arterial, require prolonged 
soaking in water before any other treatment is 
applied. 



CHAPTER VIII 

Solvents 

I now come to the consideration of the various 
solvents used in the laundry and cleaning and 
dyeing industries. The most important is natur- 
ally water, in regard to which I must point out in 
passing that its solvent powers increase rapidly 
with its purity. Consequently, soft water is far 
better for all cleaning purposes than hard water. 
It is, however, with the other solvents that I wish 
to deal now. With the exception of benzine and 
solvent naphtha, solvents other than water are 
only used in very small quantities for the local 
treatment of spots and stains, and among them 
may be included alcohol, ether, chloroform, carbon 
tetrachloride, carbon bisulphide, turpentine and 
other essential oils. 

Benzine. 

In the first place, benzine must not be con- 
founded with benzene. The former is obtained 
from petroleum, and the latter from coal tar oil. 
Benzine, which is also known as petrol, benzoline, 
petroleum spirit and petroleum ether, is obtained 

91 



92 SOLVENTS 

by the distillation of crude petroleum. This sub- 
stance, obtained from oil wells in America, the 
Caucasus, Borneo, and other parts of the earth, 
consists mainly of a series of very similar com- 
pounds called paraffins, of which methane, or 
marsh gas, is the lowest term. The composition 
of this is one particle of carbon combined with 
four of hydrogen, and every step up the series is 
made by substituting one atom of carbon com- 
bined with three of hydrogen for one particle of 
hydrogen, thus: — 

CH4 methane. 

CH3— CH3 ... ethane 

CH3— CH,— CH3 propane. 

CH3— CH,— CH,— CH3 . . . butane. 

CH3— CH3— CH,— CH,— CH3 pentane. 

and so on, as simple as A B C. 

Different Paraffins. 

All the different products of petroleum in the 
market are mixtures of these substances. The 
lowest, such as methane, are gaseous, and are 
found in abundance in the gases given off from 
the petroleum wells; next come the very light 
volatile oils, such as petrol and benzine, then the 
burning oils used in the household lamps, then 
solar distillates used in gas works to enrich coal 
gas, then the lubricating oils and vaseline, and 



SOLVENTS 93 

lastly, solid paraffin wax. These are all contained 
in the crude petroleum, and are separated from 
one another by distillation in the same way that 
whisky is separated from water. Each fraction, 
as it is called, however, does not consist of one 
paraffin only, but of several, generally four or five. 
Consequently, if we warm benzine, for example, 
the lowest of the series which happens to be pres- 
ent will begin to volatilize, although it may be 
there in comparatively very small quantity, and 
the point of volatilization of the next one present 
may be very much higher. This vapor, with the 
air, will form an explosive mixture, and if it 
comes in contact with a light will explode and fire 
back, and set the whole of the benzine alight. This 
shows the reason for the elaborate precautions 
employed in dry cleaning work, and the necessity 
for the greatest care to be observed by any laun- 
derer employing small quantities of benzine for 
any purpose in the laundry. 

It must be remembered that, in spite of its vola- 
tility, benzine vapor is much heavier than air, and 
will travel along the bench or the floor for several 
feet, and if a light happens to be at that distance 
away a catastrophe is almost inevitable. As an 
illustration of this, I remember an accident which 
occurred some years ago in a works where I was 
engaged at the time. Some workmen were told 
by the manager to empty a cask containing a 



94 SOLVENTS 

gallon or two of heavy oil residues, and they pro- 
ceeded to empty it into the coke about ten feet or 
more away from the boiler fire. The vapor in 
the cask, however, traveled to the fire, and a seri- 
ous explosion resulted. 

Sulphur Compounds. 

Among the other hydrocarbons contained in the 
crude petroleum, for it does not consist entirely 
of the paraffins, are a certain proportion of sul- 
phur compounds, some of which, like thiophene 
(C4 H4 S) are well known, but there are a number 
of others not so clearly defined, and it is to these 
that the unpleasant smell is due. Benzine which 
has been thoroughly purified from sulphur com- 
pounds has a much more ethereal odor than the 
liquid in common use. The smell which remains 
in the goods after the dry cleaning process, is 
caused by the more heavy of these sulphur com- 
pounds, which remain in the goods, and require 
long *'stoving" to drive them off. 

Solvent Action of Benzine. 

Benzine is an excellent solvent for all oils and 
fats, and as a good deal of dirt is attached to the 
fibres of garments by means of grease, a consider- 
able proportion of it will come away as soon as 
the grease is removed by the benzine. Where it 
is necessary to deal with specially dirty garments, 



SOLVENTS 95 

or portions of garments, in the dry cleaning 
process, it is necessary to employ an anhydrous 
soap, that is to say, a soap which is very nearly 
free from water. Benzine is sometimes added in 
small quantities to soap used for ordinary wet 
washing, and some launderers make a practice, 
with very dirty loads, of adding a pint or so of 
benzine to the first wash. Benzine used in this 
way does certainly assist considerably in cleans- 
ing, not probably so much by dissolving grease as 
by increasing the surface action of the soap. 
There is a certain amount of danger in using ben- 
zine in this way, as a case occurred not long ago, 
when the vapor issuing from the gland of the 
machine caught fire. 

Benzene. 

Benzene, benzole, and solvent naphtha are all 
names for the light tar oil obtained from the tar 
produced in gas-making by subsequent distillation 
of the oil. Commercial benzene contains other 
substances besides that known chemically as ben- 
zene, such as toluene and xylene, although this 
does not affect to any extent its usefulness for 
cleaning purposes. Benzene is quite as good a 
solvent as benzine, and the reason why it is not 
used much for cleaning purposes is on account of 
its increased cost. Benzene, and other substances 
of the same order, found in coal-tar oil, form the 



96 



SOLVENTS 



starting-point of nearly all the dyes used in mod- 
ern industrial operations. 

Alcohol. 

Alcohol is a good solvent for sugar, and many 
stains of an organic nature caused by fruit, grass, 
or leaves, the alcohol dissolving the resinous mat- 
ter which frequently accompanies them and ren- 
ders then difficult to remove. Generally speaking, 
however, ether is better for removing green stains 
caused by grass or leaves. Fresh ink stains will 
frequently yield to alcohol. For the benefit of 
those who are interested in the chemistry of the 
different substances they are using, I may remark 
that an alcohol is a hydrate of a hydrocarbon, in 
almost the same way that sodium hydrate is a 
hydrate of sodium. 



CH4 


methane. 


Na. OH ... 


sodium hydrate. 


CH3 OH . . . 


methyl alcohol. 


C.He ... . 


ethane. 


C.H5OH... 


ethyl alcohol 




(ordinary alcohol) 



Amyl Alcohol, Glycerine and Ether. 

Besides these alcohols, there are several others, 
known as the "higher alcohols," all formed on 
exactly the same plan. One of them is amyl alco- 



SOLVENTS 9Y 

hol, which is sometimes used for removing spots. 
Another alcohol of a rather different kind is gly- 
cerine, which, combined with fatty acids of differ- 
ent kinds, forms the whole of our oils and fats. 
Ether stands in the same position to alcohol as 
sodium oxide does to sodium hydrate. It forms an 
excellent solvent for oils and fats, and is largely 
used for this purpose in the laboratory. It is, 
however, extremely volatile. Ether is very useful 
for dissolving stains caused by leaves and fruit 
juices, being better than alcohol for this purpose. 
One drawback to the use of ether is its extreme 
volatility. 

Carbon Tetrachloride. 

Carbon tetrachloride is an excellent solvent for 
fats, and possesses the advantage of being non- 
inflammable; in fact it forms a very good fire- 
extinguisher. It is, however, more volatile than 
benzine; consequently in a mixture of carbon 
tetrachloride and benzine, the former, when the 
mixture is exposed to the air, evaporates first, and 
the proportion of benzine gets higher and higher 
until the mixture consists practically entirely of 
benzine. The notion, therefore, that a mixture of 
carbon tetrachloride and benzine can be safely 
considered non-inflammable is fallacious. Carbon 
tetrachloride is very similar in composition to 



98 SOLVENTS 

methane, consisting, as its name indicates, of one 
atom of carbon united to four of chlorine, thus : — 



cn. 


methane. 


CCI4 


carbon tetrachloride. 


CHCI3 


chloroform. 



The drawback to its general use is that it is 
distinctly poisonous. 

Chloroform, Turpentine and Carbon Bisulphide. 

Chloroform belongs to the same series as car- 
bon tetrachloride, and is three parts of the way 
between methane and the last-named substance. 
It is a very powerful solvent, dissolving fats and 
oils with ease. It forms also an excellent solvent 
for many dyes. Turpentine, which is obtained by 
distilling the juice that exudes from certain pine- 
trees when an incision is made in the stem, is the 
type of all essential oils. These substances are 
found in varying but usually very minute quanti- 
ties in flowers and other parts of plants. They 
usually have a very pleasant and powerful odor, 
and possess strong solvent properties for oily and 
waxy matters. Carbon disulphide is used as little 
as possible on account of its very unpleasant smell. 
It is a very good solvent for fats and oils, and 
sulphur dissolves in it very readily. It forms also 
one of the best solvents for india-rubber. 



CHAPTER IX 

Stakches and Other Stiffening Agents 



Cr3rstalloids and Colloids. 

I must now say a few words about two impor- 
tant groups of substances which are distinguished 
in chemistry by the names of crystalloids and col- 
loids. My readers so far have only been intro- 
duced to the former in earlier chapters, but I shall 
now have to consider the latter class also. Salt, 
soda, borax and sugar are good examples of crys- 
talloids; while starch, glue, and animal mem- 
branes are examples of colloids. Crystalloids 
form definite crystals when a solution containing 
them is concentrated ; and these crystals, although 
they may differ in size and even to some extent in 
shape, always present definite angles, and these 
angles are always the same for the same sub- 
stance. They are soluble in water in the true 
sense of the term and readily diffuse through ani- 
mal membranes ; that is to say, if a bladder partly 
filled with a solution of common salt, for example, 
be floated on clean water, the salt will ** diffuse" 

99 



100 STARCHES AND STIFFENING AGENTS 

through the bladder into the water outside until 
the strength of the salt in the water and in the 
solution in the bladder is the same. Colloids, on 
the other hand, such as gelatine and starch, do 
not dissolve in water in the proper sense of the 
term, they only absorb it or mix with it, and when 
the water is evaporated off they do not crystallize. 
In some cases where they appear to do so, micro- 
scopical examination shows that these are not 
really crystals. Then again, they possess none 
of the properties of diffusion, such as crystalloids 
have, and if, for example, a starch paste were to 
be placed in a bladder and floated on water as in 
the last experiment, the starch would still remain 
in the bladder for as long as you like to leave it 
floating. 

Starches. 

Starch is a typical colloid; it mixes with or 
swells up in water, does not form crystals, and 
even the so-called soluble starches are not soluble 
in the same sense that common salt is soluble. 
Starch grains, which are obtained from the seeds 
or roots of plants, possess, as a rule, very charac- 
teristic shapes, but these forms do not grow in the 
same way that a crystal does, but layer by layer 
like the bricks on a wall. All starches possess the 
same chemical composition, but probably the in- 
ternal arrangement of the particles of which they 



STARCHES AND STIFFENING AGENTS IQl 

are made up varies in some way, so that, although 
their percentage composition is the same, their 
mechanical properties differ a good deal, as every 
launderer knows. It must, however, be perfectly 
clearly understood that these are not chemical 
differences, as we understand the word at present, 
but mechanical ones. When once a starch is dis- 
solved or mixed with water, its structure is 
changed in some way, and it is not possible to get 
back the original starch grains if the water is 
driven off, only a horny mass remaining behind, 
which in most cases, at all events, will not re- 
dissolve. 

Forms of Starch Granules. 

On the following pages are illustrated the forms 
as they appear under the microscope of the prin- 
cipal starches used in the laundry industry. As will 
be seen, they are very characteristic and differ 
considerably from one another both in size and 
shape. Potato starch, or farina, as it is frequently 
termed in the laundry industry, is the largest of 
all the starches, and rice starch is the smallest. 
The manner of growth of the starch granule is 
very well shown in the case of potato starch. In 
every granule will be found a spot or hilum 
whence the growth starts, and the starch is piled 
on this layer on layer. In maize starch the hilum 
shows as a cross, and in rice starch the hilum, if 



102 STARCHES AND STIFFENING AGENTS 

present, is too small to be noticeable. The gran- 
ules in sago starch are large, although somewhat 
smaller than potato starch granules. In making 
the drawing from the microscope, I think I have 
drawn them just a little larger than they really 
are. "Wheat starch consists of a number of more 
or less circular granules of comparatively large 
size, as well as a number of tiny ones. 

Properties of Starch. 

Each granule of starch appears to be inclosed 
in an envelope composed of substance known as 
starch cellulose, which very closely resembles the 
starch substance composing the mass of the gran- 
ule. If the starch is placed in cold water, it does 
not dissolve unless this outer protective covering 
is broken. The granule will absorb water and 
swell up, but will not distribute itself through the 
water at all. If, however, the granules are crushed 
so as to break this envelope, the contents swell 
very much, and by repeated washing with cold 
water the whole of the interior can be dissolved, 
leaving the envelope behind. The main substance 
of the starch is colored blue by a solution of iodine 
in potassium iodide; while the envelopes are col- 
ored a dull yellow by the same reagent. If boiled 
in water, however, the starch cellulose is con- 
verted into ordinary soluble starch. 



STARCHES AND STIFFENING AGENTS 103 

Gelatinized Starch. 

As every launderer knows, a remarkable change 
occurs when raw starch is heated in water; the 
granules swell up and burst, and the starch matter 
soon becomes evenly distributed through the water 
as a gelatinous mass. This paste can be diluted 




Potato Stakch (Faeina). 

by adding more water, and the starch, if properly 
mixed, will still remain evenly distributed through 
the solution, which simply becomes thinner in 
proportion to the dilution. If a few drops of solu- 
tion of iodine in potassium iodide be added, the 
deep blue color, already referred to, is produced, 
and this forms a most delicate test for the pres- 
ence of starch. Some starches offer a much 
greater resistance to the gelatinizing action of hot 



104 



STARCHES AND STIFFENING AGENTS 



water than others, rich starch being much the 
most resistant. According to one observer, the 
following are the temperatures at which gela- 
tinization occurs for the different kinds of 
starches : — 



starch. 

Potato (Farina) 

Wheat 

Maize 

Eice 



Temperature at which 
gelatinization occurs. 

149 deg. Fahr. 
158 „ „ 
■167 „ 
194 „ 



The different granules in the same sample of 
starch do not break up all at once, those most 
newly formed going first, while the oldest are the 
most resistant. The following are the tempera- 
tures at which the most resistant granules gela- 
tinize : — 



starch. 


Temperature. 


Potato (Farina) 


. 149 deg. Fahr 


Wheat 


158 „ „ 


Sago 


• 165 „ „ 


Maize 


. 171 „ 


Rice 


. 194 „ 


Starch Paste. 





In its natural position in the plant, starch repre- 
sents stored up energy, ready for use when the 
young growing plant requires it, and one of the 



STAECHES AND STIFFENING AGENTS 105 

first things that happens when a seed germinates 
is for the starch to be converted, by means of a 
ferment called diastase, into sugar, which the plant 
uses partly as a building material and partly as 
fuel, so to speak, to supply the energy required for 
cell formation. The sugar being soluble can be 
transferred at once in the juices of the plant to 
where it is required. The stages through which 
the starch passes are first soluble starch, then two 
or three different forms of dextrin, and then 
sugar. When barley is moistened and kept in a 
warm place, as it is in a malt house, the embryo 
plant in the seed immediately begins to grow, 
sending out a miniature stem and rootlet and at 
the same time producing diastase which acts upon 
the starch in the manner just described. If some 
malt extract, which contains diastase, be mixed 
with starch paste, the changes which take place 
can be readily followed by taking samples at in- 
tervals of say five or ten minutes, and testing 
them with a drop of iodine dissolved in potassium 
iodide. At first the starch gives the well-known 
deep blue color with the iodine; then this color 
changes to brown as the starch is converted into 
dextrin, and finally no color is produced on adding 
iodine, the complete change into sugar having 
taken place. Dextrin, by the way, is made on the 
commercial scale by baking starch in an oven, and 



106 STARCHES AND STIFFENING AGENTS 

is used for such purposes as coating the backs of 
postage stamps. 

Malt Extract and Diastaf or. 

Some launderers use malt extract for dissolv- 
ing the old starch out of the shirts and collars, 
the diastase in the malt converting the starch into 
sugar which dissolves in the breakdown water and 
is thus easily removed. When the old starch 
comes away, most of the dirt and yellow stains 
come with it, so that the washing process then 
becomes quite easy. There is no reason whatever 
why this process should not be a regular part of 
the washroom system. The action of ferments, or 
enzymes, as they are called, such as diastase, are 
not thoroughly understood. They are capable of 
promoting such an action as the union of starch 
and water in enormous quantities, quite out of 
proportion to their own mass. 

Starch paste made in the ordinary way consists 
of a mixture of starch and what is known as 
soluble starch. This material is thrown out of 
solution, if mixed with alcohol, as a white powder, 
but under the microscope it can be seen that, like 
unaltered starch, it consists of small granules 
without any structure. The amount of soluble 
starch in the paste in the ordinary way depends 
a good deal upon the length of time the starch 
has been boiled; and that is one reason why, in 



STARCHES AND STIFFENING AGENTS 107 

working the boiled starch process, good results 
depend so much upon accuracy of manipulation. 
It will be obvious, also, from the previous descrip- 
tion of the modifications through which the starch 
passes, that very important changes must take 
place in the boiled starch when the goods are sub- 
jected to the high temperature of the drying room. 

The Viscosity of Starch. 

The proportion of soluble starch to ordinary 
starch in starch paste varies not only with the dif- 
ferent forms of starch, but with the process of 
manufacture and also the viscosity of the starch 
varies as well. It is necessary to free the crude 
starch from albuminous matter; and this is done 
either by treatment with dilute alkali and acid or 
by fermentation, and the properties of the starch 
obtained by the two methods vary considerably. 
The methods used in drying the starch have an 
even more important influence upon its character, 
as the following experiments will show: — 

Starch No. 1 was dried while very moist at 122 
deg. Fahr. and afterwards dried at 212 deg. Fahr. 
for 24 hours. 

Starch No. 2 was dried while very moist, under 
reduced pressure, at the ordinary temperature of 
the air and then for 24 hours at 212 deg. Fahr. 

Starch No. 3 was dried at a reduced pressure 
and finished at a temperature below 86 deg. Fahr. 



108 



STAKCHES AND STIFFENING AGENTS 



Comparing them by finding what weight was 
required to make a small disc of glass sink through 
the paste, and taking the viscosity of No. 1 as 1.0, 
the relative viscosity was : — 



No. 1. 
No. 2. 
No. 3. 



1,000 
2,306 
3,288 




Wheat Stakch. 

The Manufacture of Starch. 

The starch granules, as they are formed in the 
cells of the plants, lie embedded in the proteid 
matter of the cell, as well as entangled in the net- 
work of the cells themselves, and the principal 
problem in the manufacture of starch is to free the 



STARCHES AND STIFFENING AGENTS 109 

granules from the glutinous and cellular matter 
with which they are mixed. 

With some starches, this is a comparatively 
easy matter, but with others — notably rice starch 
— the problem presents considerable difficulties. 
In the first instance, the starch grains are washed 
out of the cellular matter by water and are then 
freed from adhering foreign matter either by fer- 
mentation or by the action of alkalies and acids. 

Potato starch is the easiest of all to prepare, as 
the grains come away so freely from the cellular 
entanglement; the tubers are first washed, then 
rasped by machinery, and the pulp is subjected to 
various washing processes to remove the granules 
from the cells. 

In preparing wheat starch, the grain is first 
separated by fermentation or by Martin's process, 
in which the starch granules are washed away 
from the gluten. 

In the case of maize starch, the grain is softened 
with water and fermentation is allowed to com- 
mence before it is ground ; or, by another method, 
the fermentation is omitted and hot water is em- 
ployed. The pulp thus formed is washed through 
sieves, which permit the grains to pass through, 
while the albuminous matter is retained. 

Sago is obtained from the pith of a palm tree, 
which is felled and cut up into lengths, from 
which the pith is extracted, the starch being re- 



110 STARCHES AND STIFFENING AGENTS 

moved simply by washing. This product is known 
as sago flour and is subsequently purified after 
importation into this country. 




Sago Starch. 

Rice starch, the most important of all the 
starches from the launderer's point of view, is, as 
already stated, by far the most troublesome to 
free from glutinous matter and it is necessary to 
employ caustic soda for the purpose, either with 
or without fermentation. 

Attention has already been called to the impor- 
tant influence of the temperature and other con- 
ditions on the drying of the starch. In many 
starches, considerable loss occurs through the 



STAECHES AND STIFFENING AGENTS m 

formation of dextrin on the outside of the masses 
of the starch. 

Action of Alkali and Acid on Starch. 

Diluted alkali is without action on the starch, 
but if any be present in starch paste it helps to 
clear the solution by dissolving the starch cellu- 
lose it causes no alteration in the viscosity of the 




EiCE Starch. 

starch. If the alkali be neutralized with acid, the 
starch still remains transparent, while the vis- 
cosity is unaltered. If, however, a slight excess 
of acid be added and the starch paste be boiled, it 
is gradually converted into sugar. Dilute am- 
monia has no action on starch or starch paste, but 
strong ammonia acting upon starch for several 



113 STAECHES AND STIFFENING AGENTS 

days converts it into soluble starch. Strong 
alkalis cause raw starch granules to swell up, and, 
as in the case of gelatinization, potato starch is 
the most readily attacked, while rice starch is the 
most resistant. If raw potato starch be treated 
with dilute hydrochloric acid for some days, it 
is converted direct into soluble starch without go- 




Maize (Coen) Starch. 

ing through the paste stage. Glycerine dissolves 
starch completely. 

Lime has a curious effect on starch, entering 
into some kind of combination, and when in this 
state, the starch cannot be detected by any of the 
usual chemical tests, iodine showing no blue color. 
Consequently, starch should always be made up 
with softened or condensed water. 



STAECHES AND STIFFENING AGENTS 113 

Thick and Thin Boiling Starches. 

When ordinary ''thick boiling," that is to say 
unaltered, starch is acted upon by acid, important 
changes take place ; resulting ultimately, as stated 
above, in the formation of sugar. The interme- 
diate stages, however, deserve careful attention 
from the launderer. The chemical difference be- 
tween starch and sugar is the addition of water 
to the starch group of atoms. 

Starch. Grape Sugar. 

The first action of the acid is to hydrolyze, that 
is to say, to add water to the starch cellulose 
forming the outer coating of the starch granule ; 
the next important step is the formation of dex- 
trin, the intermediate product between starch and 
sugar; and, finally, sugar itself. As the conver- 
sion gradually takes place, the starch paste gets 
thinner, until finally it is converted completely 
into a crystalline substance, and the solution be- 
comes perfectly clear. By regulating the propor- 
tion and action of the acid, the process can be 
stopped at any required stage. 

The old way of making thin boiling starch was 
to add a considerable amount of acid, and when 
its action had gone far enough, to remove it by 
washing the starch. The present method, how- 
ever, is to add a very little acid, and when its 



Ill sr\Krill's AXP SIMKI'KNINU AOVINTS 

ju'tion is IuusIuhI, to iumiI i ali.'.r il with l>oin\ o\' 
soiiit' t'tlu'f nlk.'ili. riu> siisixMult'd ^^t;l^^•ll is 
luixtul Nvilli 0:.' lo 0.\ juM- cont oi' nritl, usiinlly 
sulplunii' ju'iil ; (lu* limrul portion is rtMUo\t>(l l>y 
Jillowins;" tho stnr>li to s(>|lli> coiit liriii-vnlly, niul 
tlion lu>;itt>il at about lol^ " l''alii'. until a si>lnfion {\\' 
(lu> starrli lu'i'onios sntVicuMilly thin. 'Tlu' acid 
is tluMi noutiali/.tui and tlu> stan'li driod. l\v vary- 
iui; tho I'oiuiitious, thin hoiliiif;' starches can ho 
ohtainod, \ai\in;-v Iroin ordinai'v thin hoiliiii;' 
stavi'h us(>il at \\\c iM\>i>ortion ot" I Ih. to I'-. Ihs. 
ju>r ^alK^n ol" watiM', u|> to thin hoiliii!'; stafi'iu>s in 
Nvliii'h as inui'h as o \o (i Ihs. por !.';idUMi still !.;i\t>s n 
oloar si^lution. 

Aootiitea of Ci'lluloso ntnl Feculoso. 

(\»llnlos<> (MitiMs into sovmal oonihiiiations willi 
nt't^tio JU'id to t'oiiu aciMatos, (>itlh>r by llu* ncliou 
o[' iiiai'ial ni't^tii' acid or act'lyl chlotitlt*. (\>llnloso 
tctia acetate is a lu>antil"ul produt-t, and lihns dt>- 
posi(t>d friMU a si>lnti(ni in chlorot'oiin ari> nu>st 
brilliant, ciWi>rl(\ss and very strmii;-. 'Tluvsc prod- 
ucts arc tindiujv ('i>nsidtM'abh» application now in 
the ninnuf;utnre ot" artitii'ial silk. Tlu^v slu>uUl bo 
watihcd by laundeitMs with cart', (hie (>!" the cel- 
lulose acetate pnuincts is now on tht> I'ritish tnar- 
kci luider the nanuMW' *• l\H'ulost\" It is obtained 
by till' partial acti^ni ot" s-vlacial ai'etie acid on 
start'li; and. owiui;' to the I'learmvss and brilliaui'y 



of iUti i]\m it tUipoHiih ttu fn^fnun, t*M[n*/'4Si\\y t'/Aori'A 
orutHf with wiiU'}i H \n brought Jw t'/fuUuitf it bJ/J« 
fair to f>'; of pfHi/'it H^irvj/^j i/} iU*i ihun'Jiry UuluHiry, 

Olh<:r Hlitft'jiini^ Ag90U, 

J/j a'j'ijtion lo Hitif't'hf mvi*,rii\ <fihitr <'/>lloid, th;it 
iM to ««y, glu'fy n\i\>niiiJi<'A*M urn u«<'/i uj^oo fh\/rU'M 
f/> 'nfipuri Hi'iffnttiiH to ihi'tt^. Onlioary irt'-lai'iu \v> 
nm*A f<>ti>'uU',ni\>\y for aiU'fcjnni/^ KJJk« an/J iU^firyf 
HH (fr'Vitmry i^Xnrch tnakitH hucU ahAcU'M U>o HiMf on 
Ifj'i one. Ir.iii'i uti'i hii¥, a U:rnUmf^y t') f^W*i h rm«ty, 
hfooy Hurftu'tt on tint oiSntr. (UtUii'in and homf, of 
y\iit '/utsi-n }ir<t U!-;o'J iri ;•;!';« '1. 

A HortiiiwUni rcjn'firkn^Ait produH obtain^^'i frorr) 
fb^i Io''U«t b'^arj, corooioo io <'<>ufiir\<'M U>r'i<;rJoj< 
oo tho Mttti'dt'.rrsint'nn and la r'/fly uh*'/\ aw tfio 
bawJH of r/joftt of Ib^; pnU'jti food« for cattU; an/l 
horw;«, j« now tiiinudinw, prr<;al tiiUini'ioii. An <',X' 
oA*At(\\ni^\y UfUi^li ytWy knov/n a» '^j^urrj irnu^nhtA** 
'i¥> o\Am\ui'A from lb<; k<;rrj<J of th<^w U?afjK, arj/J, 
o'\i\i<'T alone, or <;(H(M\n*'A wjlh Hiar<'}i^ i« a)r<ja/Jy 
on th^; ruarkoX for \a\nAry pwrptmttn. Th'th i^nm in 
tixiraord'niiirWy tf^up^h and pJiabJ^j, an/i can U< a^'j'l 
(ihhitr \fy ]Ut',\f or in ^combination with «tarcb or 
with w<?iprhtinpr a'//'.niii, nwli an t-U'ina (•,\ay, for till- 
ing or Ktr<inglh<?ning fa\>r\('M, \i ;-;<f'?rn« tf> U; 'juit<j 
an WiiaJ Htilthiancji U) M^t for i.a\j\ti lUtfji :).n'i 



116 STARCHES AND STIFFENING AGENTS 

napery; while for delicate articles, such as mus- 
lins and similar finery, it should prove very valua- 
ble for stiffening them without destroying their 
pliability. 

Borax in Starch. 

As borax is so frequently used in starch, it 
would not be out of place to say something further 
about it here (see also page 38). It has often puz- 
zled me why launderers use it at all in their starch 
except to neutralize any lime which may be pres- 
ent in .the water employed for making up the 
starch. As far as I am aware, it can serve no 
other purpose, except possibly to keep the iron 
from sticking. In the first place, soft water should 
always be employed wherever possible for starch- 
ing, and especially for making up the starch in 
the first instance before diluting. In the second 
place I feel sure that even if it be an assistance, 
launderers use a very great deal too much borax, 
and this excess of borax in the starch is the cause 
of many of their troubles, especially the cracking 
of collars. 



CHAPTER X 

Fuels 

Considering what a very important item the 
fuel bill is in the laundry, it is well worth the while 
of the launderer to get a thorough understanding 
of the nature of fuel and combustion. In the first 
place, the only portions of the fuel, of whatever 
kind it may be, which are combustible and there- 
fore useful for producing heat, are carbon and 
hydrogen, and their combinations with one an- 
other. In the process of combustion, the carbon 
and hydrogen enter into chemical combination 
with the oxygen of the air, a large part of the 
chemical energy which runs down, so to speak, 
being converted into heat. The hydrogen burns 
into water and the carbon into carbonic acid gas. 
The heat of combination of the hydrogen with the 
oxygen is more than four times as much as that 
of carbon, weight for weight, but as hydrogen in 
the gaseous form is only one-twelfth of the weight 
of carbon, a gas rich in carbon, such as good coal 
gas, is far more valuable as a fuel in, say, the 
gas engine, than a gas which contains a much 

117 



IIS KUI0L8 

larger propoitioii of hydrogen. I will, however, 
refer to the (lilferent varieties of gaaeous fuel 
later. 

Carbonic Acid and Carbon Monoxide. 

Il>(lr(>,t;<'ii Itiiiiis direct into watei- strai^'ht away 
without any iidcriiKMJialc sla^^c, and if a cold piece 
of inclal, foi- example, he placed I'oi- a lew seconds 
«)\'ei- a nas llanie, it will he found covered with 
littlt! drops of water, ('aihon, however, hums in 
two stages, foi'inin^' a conihination of one part of 
carhon lo one part of oxygen — carbon monoxide 
or carbonic oxide ((*()), and (hen a second com- 
p()nnd of one ))art of carbon to two of oxygen — 
carbon dioxide Oi* carbonic acid gas (COa). The 
former is exceedingly ])oisonous, as it enters into 
combination with the red coloring matter of the 
blood, even if i)resent in the air in only small 
(pumtity, and the blood is conseqnently nnable to 
take np oxygen. Moi-eover, in cases of i)artial 
poisoning with carbon monoxi(h>, the blood takes 
a long time to get back to its normal condition. 
To breathe air containing a considerable propor- 
tion of carbon monoxide for any length of time 
means almost certain death from snffocation, and 
it is this gas remaining in the passages of a coal 
mine after a gas explosion which usually causes 
far more deaths than the actual explosion itself. 



FUEL8 119 

The Dangers of Carbon Monoxide. 

From ihJH the r(in<htv wilJ ,s<Mf i\\it irriportfinw of 
Hiof)f>inpf at once any loakn of gaw^ }jow<!V<;r H/rjal), 
an<i of carrying away }>y mcann of oSimant ventila- 
tion, or in Horno Hpecial nj;jnn<ir, thfi hiirnt u^nHdH 
from p^'iiH ironn and gaK-}j<;ai<i<J ironing ujacljineH, 
for it niiJHt fx; nol<;<J tliat coaJ g.-iH oont'ji/JH from 
H \)('.r ci'.ni. io 12 f>(;r <'<fni. of carhoii inonoxJ<J<f. 
'Vo h.'ibitually brcatho air containing avau a very 
himall anioiifjt of carljon monoxide caujscH chronic 
h(;a(iac}i(;H and general J(jw(iring of IjeaJtii, ho ttiat 
if it in only for the Hake of keeping the workers 
efficient, thin matter kIiouM receive careful 
attention. 

The CompoKition of Coal. 

I liav(; alr<;ady n;lerr(;d to Home of the c/nn- 
poundn of carhon an<i hydrogen known an the par- 
affmn, although thin in only '>n<t nerii^H out of 
many. NevertheleHH, ordinary paraflin oil, which, 
an J have stated in a previoun chaj^ter, in a mix- 
ture of many ''[iaraffinH," will Hcrva aH an exam- 
ple to commence with. If a nnjall <jijantity of 
paraffin oil l><; thrown u[>on a Ijot fjre, part of it 
will hiirnt into fianje, while another part will be 
brok(;n up by tlie heat, a large amount of Koot 
being net free. Now thin ih exactly what happeuH 
when a bitumiaouH or **ga«Hy" coal i8 thrown 



120 FUELS 

upon the fire. The best way to get an idea of the 
composition of coal is to study what happens when 
coal is distilled at a gas works for the purpose of 
making coal gas. The coal is placed in a retort or 
D-shaped vessel, made of clay, and kept red-hot 
by a fire underneath. Various gases are given off, 
and coke, consisting principally of carbon and 
mineral ash, is left behind. A good deal of tar and 
tarry oils condense on passing out of the retort, 
as well as ammonia compounds ; while other sub- 
stances, such as sulphur compounds and more am- 
monia, are removed in the purifying processes, 
leaving finally the coal gas, as we know it, to be 
sent into the mains. 

When the two principal products of this opera- 
tion — that is to say, the gas and the coke — are 
burned separately, they burn with practically no 
smoke, and yet we have seen that when burned 
together, by throwing the coal on a fire, they pro- 
duce a good deal of smoke. It is obvious that it 
cannot be the fault of the coke, and our experiment 
with paraffin oil confirms the deduction that the 
smoke is due to the imperfect combustion of the 
other part of the coal. Consequently, if a laun- 
derer wishes to avoid a smoky chimney, he must 
do one of two things: he must either burn coke, 
or anthracite (which is a sort of natural coke), or 
he must so adjust his boiler fire and the draught 



FUELS 131 

of air as to burn the gaseous part of his coal 
completely. 

With a mechanical stoker, which feeds finely 
broken coal continuously and distributes it over 
the fire, the difficulty is solved, because the coal 
falls upon the fire in such small quantities at a 
time that it does not cool it appreciably, and the 
gases given off are readily burned ; but where, as 
in a laundry boiler furnace, the coal has to be 
placed on the fire in considerable quantities at a 
time, the problem is a ditferent one. It is impos- 
sible to prevent the smoke being produced, or, on 
account partly of the local cooling of the fire and 
partly of the large quantity of air which would 
be required at that particular spot, to burn it 
immediately. The important thing is to keep half 
the fire bright, and then the carbonic acid pro- 
duced by the hot fire will form carbon monoxide 
with the carbon of the smoke, and this again will 
be completely burnt further up the flue, so that 
the resulting gases will be smokeless. 

The Ash in Coke. 

In considering the relative merits of coal and 
coke, it must always be borne in mind that the 
coke contains practically the whole of the ash in 
the original coal. Eoughly, thirteen cwt. of coke 
are obtained from one ton of coal, so that if a 
particular coal contained 8 per cent, of ash, the 



183 FUELS 

coke made from it at tlie gasworks would contain 
roughly 12 per cent, of ash. Moreover, the greater 
part of the sulphur will remain in the coke. 

Valuing- Coal. 

In purchasing coal, one of the first things to 
take into consideration is the amount of ash it 
contains. Not only is the ash useless in itself, but 
the fuel has to heat up the ash as well as itself, 
and all this heat is wasted; also, there is all the 
trouble of removing the ash from the furnace. 
It is important also to notice the character of the 
ash, whether it is of a powdery nature, or whether 
it is inclined to fuse together in the furnace and 
cause a large amount of clinker, which will choke 
the fire and give more work to the fireman. The 
quantity of sulphur in the ash is also important, 
as sulphur j)roducts deteriorate the metal of the 
boiler flues. The most important thing of all, 
however, is the calorific, or heat-giving value of 
the coal. Every large launderer, on entering into 
a coal contract, should secure a price on a guaran- 
teed calorific value of so many thermal units. A 
determination of calorific value will be made by a 
good analyst for quite a small fee, and as coal, 
even from the same mine, varies very much in 
quality, it is important to have some check upon 
the value of the fuel supplied. 



FUELS 123 

Producer and Suction Gas. 

As the gas known as ''producer" gas and ''suc- 
tion" gas is coming so much into vogue, it would 
be well to devote a few lines here to explaining 
the principles upon which it is made. These two 
gases are really the same from a chemical point 
of view, so that I will treat them as one. If steam 
be passed through red-hot fuel, it is broken up 
with production of hydrogen and carbon mon- 
oxide, thus : — 

noil + (J = CO + II. 

This gas is known as water gas, and is, by some 
gas companies, mixed with the coal gas they sup- 
ply to the public, the difference in illuminating 
value being made up by the addition of a certain 
amount of oil gas of high illuminating value. The 
natural effect, however, of blowing steam into red- 
hot fuel is to rapidly bring down its temperature, 
so that, in making water gas the operation has to 
be interrupted at the end of a few minutes to turn 
on an air blast to get the fuel up to the proper 
heat again. 

In making "producer" or "suction gas," these 
two operations — that is to say, the "run" and the 
"blow" — are combined. When the fuel has once 
been got up to the right heat, a mixture of steam 
and air is passed through the fuel continuously. 
The steam is broken up by the fuel into hydrogen 



134 FUELS 

aud carbon monoxide, and the air, which, by the 
way, is insufficient for complete combustion, in- 
stead of burning' the fuel to carbonic acid, only 
burns it to carbon monoxide, so that the whole 
process results in the production of a mixture of 
carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The heat-giving 
properties of this gas are not nearly so great as 
those of ordinary coal gas, so that it is necessary 
to use a proportionately larger quantity of it in 
the gas engine, or gas irons, or ironing machines, 
in order to produce the same power or heat, as the 
case may be. Except for the danger of the escape 
of unburnt producer gas into the air, there is no 
more danger in its use than in that of coal gas, 
as, when once burnt, the gases are equally 
harmless. Producer or suction gas is remarkably 
economical, and I have very little doubt that be- 
fore long it will bo used for driving aud heating in 
many power laundries. 



CHAPTER XI 

Fabrics 

In the chapter on Starches, I have already men- 
tioned starch cellulose, and I now come to a very 
important class of substances, all of which are 
modifications of the substance called cellulose. 
This is very similar in chemical composition to 
starch, and from it, or from different variations 
of it, all vegetable fibres — linen, cotton, jute, bast, 
hemp, etc. — as well as wood, are constructed. Cot- 
ton wool, for example, is practically pure cellulose. 
Although celhilose and its compounds, of which 
more directly, do not give the resistance to com- 
pression of steel, yet the tensile strength of a 
linen fibre or a thread of such a substance as cellu- 
lose tetra-acetate, is quite remarkable. 

Cellulose is affected by strong acids and rapidly 
by weak acids, and it is acted upon by alkalies 
far more easily than is generally supposed. If 
acid be used upon vegetable fibers for removing 
stains or other purposes, care should be taken to 
rinse very thoroughly, for it must always be re- 
membered that, except in the case of a volatile 
acid, such as acetic acid, the acid concentrates 

125 



126 FABEICS 

as water of dilution evaporates, and may leave 
the acid in certain parts of the fabric in compara- 
tively large proportion. This is equally true of 
alkalies, and it must always be borne in mind that 
any injurious action the alkali may have upon 
the fabric may — and iDrobably will — be greatly 
increased when a hot iron is passed over it, or 
when, in the case of flat work, it is passed through 
the calender. When comparatively strong alkali, 
juch as 25 per cent caustic soda, acts upon a vege- 
table fibre, it causes it to contract, at the same 
time becoming much thicker with an increased 
tensile strength. A cotton fibre treated in this 
way is completely altered. Instead of presenting, 
under the microscope, a flat, twisted, ribbon-like 
appearance, it has, after treatment, a thick, 
rounded aspect. This process is known as '*Mer- 
cerization, ' ' from the name of the discoverer, John 
Mercer. 

Mercerized Cotton. 

Mercerized cotton is now an important article 
of commerce, and it is all made in this way, or 
in some modification of it. There is hardly any 
lustre in mercerized cotton if it is allowed to con- 
tract to its full extent under the action of the 
alkali, but if the cotton be stretched and thus pre- 
vented from contracting when the alkali acts upon 
it, the surface has a most beautiful lustre, which 



FABEICS 137 

is used in many ways. Mercerized cotton has a 
mnch higher affinity for dyes than ordinary cotton, 
and this again is a valuable property. Bleached 
cotton fibres will take a much higher degree of 
lustre than when unbleached, so that the first 
step in mercerization is to bleach the hanks of 
cotton, which, by the way, are selected from the 
Egyptian or Georgian long-stapled fibre in pre- 
ference to the short-stapled American product. 
After bleaching, the hanks are washed, stretched 
on rollers, and passed through the mercerizing 
solution. There are various modifications of this 
process, some of which are distinctly injurious to 
the fibre. The fibres may be injured in the bleach- 
ing or may be over-stretched in mercerizing, or the 
bleaching and mercerizing process is sometimes 
combined to the injury of the fabric. Conse- 
quently, in many cases, a fabric is produced by 
mercerizing, which, instead of being stronger than 
ordinary cotton, is materially weaker, as the 
launderer knows to his cost. 

The Action of Alkalies. 

It would seem that, as such a strong alkali as 
caustic soda has a strengthening process on the 
fibres in the mercerization process, there can be 
no harm in using plenty of alkali in the washing 
machine; but the conditions are not similar. In 
the first place, mercerization is carried on in the 



128 FABRICS 

cold, or, if a higher temperature be employed, 
care has to be taken to exclude air; while in the 
washing process the fabric is boiled with a hot 
solution of alkali, which is continuously aerated 
by the rotation of the machine. Also, instead of 
only happening once in the mercerizing process, 
this boiling with hot alkali in the washing process 
happens repeatedly. As a matter of practice, it is 
found that wasliing with a large proportion of 
alkali has a very injurious effect, causing the 
fibres to swell and disintegrate, giving them at 
the same time an unpleasant yellowish color, 
which can only be whitened by bleaching. Of 
all the fixed alkalies, caustic soda (or potash) has 
the most, and borax the least, injurious action on 
fibres. 

Linen and Cotton. 

Although essentially the same in chemical com- 
position, the fibres of linen and cotton possess 
very distinct physical characters. In the first 
place, their origin is vevj different, linen being 
derived from the long and very strong stem fibres 
of the flax plant ; while cotton consists of the seed 
hairs of the cotton plant, the fibres being com- 
paratively short. They differ very much in 
appearance under the miscroscope. The cotton 
fibre presents the appearance of a flat twisted 
ribbon thickened at the edges, and it is not easy to 



FABEICS 139 

see the partitions between the cells which make up 
the fibre. In the linen fibres the separate cells can 
be easily distinguished, the fibre being thickened 
where the two cells join. It is these thickenings 
which make linen fibre easy to spin, as the fibres 
readily attach themselves to one another ; in cotton 
an artificial twist has to be given to join the fibres 
together. On account of the much greater length 
and strength of the linen fibre, it is much less 
liable to "fluff" in the washing process than cot- 
ton. On the other hand, cotton goes through the 
calender [ironing machine] with much less dam- 
age than linen. 

Gun Cotton. 

Cellulose readily forms compounds with nitric 
acid, the best known one being gun cotton, which 
is cellulose tri-nitrate. This is made by acting 
upon cotton wool with a mixture of nitric and 
sulphuric acids. The same substance mixed with 
camphor forms celluloid, which accounts for its 
dangerous inflammable character. Nitro-cellulose 
also is used for some artificial silks. 

Cellulose Acetates. 

By acting upon cotton wool with a substance 
known as acetyl chloride, a very beautiful com- 
pound is produced, known as cellulose tetra- 
acetate. This forms a most beautiful transparent 



130 FABBICS 

colorless film, and the substance is used in the 
production of an artificial silk. 

Cellulose is readily dissolved by cuprammonium 
solution (sulphate of copper to which ammonia 
has been added to precipitate the hydrate, which 
redissolves again in the excess of ammonia), and 
advantage is taken of this in the manufacture of 
Willesden paper — a thick waterproof paper used 
for roofing and similar purposes. 

Zinc chloride also rapidily dissolves cellulose. A 
good method of separating cotton and wool is by 
means of dilute sulphuric acid. The fabric is 
dipped in the acid, and then dried and heated. 
This concentrates the acid, which chars the cotton, 
leaving the wool practically untouched. By shak- 
ing and rubbing the cloth, the charred cotton can 
be all removed, leaving the wool behind. 

Wool. 

"Wool is just as easily dissolved by caustic alkali 
as cotton is by zinc chloride, and the wool can be 
removed from a cotton-wool fabric with the great- 
est ease, although it cannot be recovered. All 
varieties of wool, hair, etc., used for textile 
fabrics, although they may differ considerably in 
mechanical structure, are very similar in com- 
position. The peculiarity of wool is that the fibre 
is made up of small sections fitted into one an- 
other, and at each join, so to speak, there is a 



FABEICS 131 

rough expanded serrated edge. These edges, when 
the fibres are woven, lock into one another, and 
every movement of the fabric caused by changes 
of temperature, etc., causes these serrations to 
interlock closer and closer, so that a woolen fabric 
always has a tendency to shrink when washed. 
Consequently, it is important that in the washing 
process wool should be exposed to as few changes 
of temperature as possible, and that the washing 
process should be carried through quickly. High 
temperature causes the fibres to move very much, 
so that they ''felt" together with considerable 
shrinkage. 

Acids have comparatively slight action on the 
fibre, although, as stated above, wool is rapidly 
destroyed and dissolved by strong caustic alkalies. 
Even weak alkalies have a most injurious effect on 
the wool fibre, and all woolen goods should be 
washed in a neutral soap solution at about 90 
deg. Fahr. If it is necessary to use alkali, weak 
borax — or, better, ammonia — is the best to employ, 
although it must not be forgotten that ammonia 
has a tendency to turn white woolen goods yel- 
lowish. 

Silk. 

Silk, obtained from the cocoons of various kinds 
of silkworm, is somewhat similar in composition 
to wool, the most important substance present in 



133 FABEICS 

silk being known as serecine. More will be said 
about its properties in the chapter on "Dyes and 
Dyeing." Silk in the laundry requires to be 
treated very much the same as wool, and if similar 
methods are employed, the silk will come to no 
harm. If the launderer or cleaner and dyer 
only had pure silks to deal with, he would be able 
to accomplish his work without much difficulty, 
but the terrible adulteration practiced in silk 
weaving of late years has made his task an ex- 
tremely difficult one. 

It has been found that silk will take up very 
large quantities of tin, barium, and other mineral 
oxides without any apparent change in lustre or 
appearance, and consequently a very considerable 
proportion of the silk in the market is adulterated 
to an enormous extent. By repeated treatment 
with chloride of tin (stanic chloride), silk can be 
loaded so that it contains only about 20 per cent 
of genuine silk. 

Although improvements in the methods of 
weighting have rendered this weighted silk less 
fragile than it used to be, it is rapidly acted upon 
by light and by perspiration; a very small per- 
centage of common salt, which is a normal con- 
stituent of perspiration, rapidly disintegrating 
weighted silk. Various unaccountable spots and 
stains often occur in weighted silk. Consequently 
weighted silk, although it may look quite sound, 



FABEICS 133 

very often tears under the arm-pits or falls to 
pieces when placed in water. When it is remem- 
bered that mere exposure to light in the linen- 
draper's window is quite sufficient to ruin the 
fabric, it is needless to add that the launderer 
must be on his guard against it. 

Other Adulterations. 

Cotton and linen goods are usually more or less 
adulterated with filling and sizing materials, such 
as glue, starch, gum tragasol, etc., on the one side, 
and china clay on the mineral side. "Woolens, be- 
sides being adulterated with cotton, are loaded 
also, and when washing new blankets or new 
woolen goods, care must be taken to get out the 
dressing before proceeding to wash the article. 

Chlorinated Wool. 

There are a considerable number of woolen gar- 
ments on the market, known as ''unshrinkable," 
and these have in most cases been treated with 
chlorine (or, rather, hypochlorous acid) which has 
the effect of removing the serrations on the fibres 
which cause them to interlock and shrink in the 
ordinary way. 



CHAPTER XII 

Dyes and Dyeing 

Dyeing lies somewhat ouside the business of 
the average launderer and is really quite a special 
subject requiring a large amount of study and a 
very considerable knowledge of chemistry — far 
more than could be obtained from an elementary 
manual — so that in this chapter I only propose to 
touch upon the subject sufficiently to give the 
reader what small insight is possible into the main 
principles of dyeing. If he wishes to go farther, 
he will find it necessary to study some larger work, 
and at the same time to secure some practical in- 
struction in the matter, to attempt dyeing with 
only a book knowledge of the subject would be 
disastrous. In the first place it may be stated that 
dyeing is quite a different thing from mere stain- 
ing of the fabric. If a piece of sugar be placed 
resting in some colored fluid, the color will be 
sucked up by capillary action until the sugar ap- 
pears to have been regularly stained throughout. 
In the same way a piece of cotton will take up a 
stain if part of it is resting in a colored solution, 
and if dried the stain will remain in it, but the 

134 



DYES AND DYEING 135 

colored appearance is purely temporary, and is as 
readily removed as it is taken up. By dyeing, we 
understand a much closer relationship between the 
coloring matter and the fibre, than the instance 
we have just discussed. Some coloring matters 
can be dyed direct on to the fabric and remain 
permanently fixed, and the reason for this will be 
discussed subsequently; but in the majority of 
instances the dyeing operation is by no means so 
simple as this. 

Theories About Dyeing. 

There are various theories to account for the 
dyeing action of colors on fabrics, but none of 
these appear to cover the whole ground. In the 
majority of cases the dyeing action appears to be 
in the nature of a chemical relationship between 
the fibre and the coloring matter ; while in others, 
the coloring matter appears to be deposited in 
the fibre in a purely mechanical manner. The 
latter is undoubtedly the case with metallic pig- 
ments, such as chrome yellow, and with indigo 
dyed on the vat system, in which the reduced 
indigo is deposited in the fabric and is afterwards 
oxidized to develop the color. In any case the 
structure of the fibre does not appear to be altered 
in any way, and where the coloring matter can 
be conveniently removed, the fibre, when examined 
subsequently, appears to be entirely unaltered. 



136 DYES AND DYEING 

Wool, silk, and animal substances generally be- 
have in a very similar manner towards dyes, and 
this is what might be expected from a knowledge 
of their chemical nature. They are all very much 
more readily dyed than cotton and other vegetable 
fibres, which in the majority of cases require much 
more drastic treatment to get them to take up the 
dye. In fact it is usually necessary to introduce 
an intermediary, if it may be termed so, in the 
shape of a mordant, the nature of which will be 
explained later. 

Those who consider the action of dyeing to be 
a mechanical one, compare the action of the fibre 
on the dye to the solvent action of ether on an 
aqueous solution of a dye. In most instances the 
ether, if shaken up with the other solution, will 
absorb all the color, and it is thought that the 
action of the vegetable fibre at all events is sim- 
ilar. On this supposition the differences observed 
with different fibres are considered to be due to 
variations in the pores of the fibre. Whatever 
may be the exact case in regard to vegetable fibres, 
it is pretty clear that in the dyeing of animal fibre 
a genuine chemical combination takes place be- 
tween some substance in the fibre and the coloring 
material. 

My readers will remember that a salt is pro- 
duced by the union of an acid and an alkali or 
base, and the same thing appears to take place in 



DYES AND DYEING 137 

the dyeing of certain animal fibres. In some 
cases the fibre appears to act as the base, and in 
others as the acid, and it is very courions that 
wool and silk can be dyed with plain, colorless 
rosaniline, which is a substance bearing a chemi- 
cal resemblance to ammonia, only much more com- 
plicated. If the hydrochloride or combination of 
rosaniline base with hydrochloric acid is used, the 
whole of the hydrochloric acid will be found left in 
the solution, indicating that the fibre takes its place 
in the combination with the rosaniline. It is inter- 
esting to note that in the case of wool, silk and 
other animal matters, the dye appears to com- 
pletely permeate the substance ; while in the case 
of cotton, the dye lies more or less on the surface. 

Classes of Dyes. 

Dyeing substances may be divided roughly into 
two classes, namely, those which act more or less 
after the manner of pigments, that is to say, pos- 
sess a strong coloring themselves, and only give 
shades of the same color under all circumstances, 
and those which are only lightly colored, or some- 
times colorless in themselves, but produce strong 
dyes in combination with a mordant or its equiva- 
lent. Moreover, the coloring matters of the second 
class vary very much in the shade they produce 
according to the mordant with which they are 
combined. As instances of the first class I may 



138 DYES AND DYEING 

mention magenta, indigo, and azo-scarlet. These 
are applied by steeping the fabric in hot solution 
of the dye, to which has been added an acid, an 
alkali, or a salt, such as Glauber's salt, as the case 
may be. As instances of the second class, alizarine 
(madder), cochineal and brazilein, yield different 
colors according to the mordant with which they 
are used. It is important to note in this connection 
that magenta, while it will dye wool and silk di- 
rectly, needs a mordant with cotton. 

Another very important — one of the most im- 
portant from the dyer's point of view — difference 
between coloring matters, is the division into acid 
and basic coloring matters. The two classes com- 
bine with substances of the opposite chemical 
character to yield a dye. For example, in the 
case of alizarine red, which is an acid color, this 
is dyed with alizarine — a base resembling ros- 
aniline or ammonia already referred to, and alumi- 
na — another base — as a mordant; while rosani- 
line, being a basic color, requires hydrochloric acid 
as a mordant. 

Direct Dyes and Mordants. 

A direct dye, such as magenta, will dye the 
fabric without any assistance ; but there are many 
dyes which require the aid of what is known as a 
mordant. The substances most commonly em- 
ployed for this purpose are metallic oxides, such 



DYES AND DYEING 139 

as alumina, iron, hydrate of copper or chromium, 
and so on, which are usually deposited first on the 
fibre, and then, when the dyeing process proper 
is carried out, the dye combines with the mordant, 
or with the mordant and the fibre, and remains 
permanently fixed. When the action is at an end, 
the mordant — and in the case of wool and silk the 
fibre itself — have combined with the coloring mat- 
ter to form an insoluble substance, which is quite 
fast to the action of water, but not to that of light. 

As a good example of the action of a mordant, 
it is an interesting experiment to mix an acid 
color with sulphate of alumina and carbonate of 
soda in solution ; the alumina will carry down the 
whole of the coloring matter, leaving a clear color- 
less solution. Mordants consisting of metallic 
salts are of a basic character and are employed 
with acid colors, and it is interesting to note how 
very sensitive these basic metallic salts are. In 
many cases it is only necessary to dilute a solution 
of a metallic salt to obtain the basic salt, which 
commences to precipate at once. 

Wool is mordanted by boiling with dilute solu- 
tions of metallic salts, but these are usually mixed 
with organic acids such as formic acid, or acid 
salts, such as cream of tartar, to assist in keeping 
the mordant in solution. While the boiling pro- 
ceeds, the metallic salt in contact with the fibre, 
dissociates, forming a basic compound with the 



140 DYES AND DYEING 

fibre. When the mordanting is complete, the fabric 
is transferred to a vat containg the dye. The 
composition of silk is very similar to that of wool, 
and it is mordanted in a similar manner by boil- 
ing with metallic salts, or by steeping for a cer- 
tain number of hours in a more or less basic solu- 
tion, and it is then dyed in the usual way. 

Cotton and all vegetable fibers require quite 
different treatment to wool and silk, as they con- 
tain no active chemical substance such as that 
existing in the first named. On account of the 
absence of any active substance, cotton is not able 
to break up and combine with any basic salt. The 
most common mordants employed with cotton are 
the metallic acetates. These decompose compara- 
tively readily, leaving the basic salt deposited on 
the cotton fibre. Acid mordants are very com- 
monly used with cotton, the most common being 
tannic acid. 

Classes of Dyes. 

Owing to the exceedingly complicated chemical 
structure of most of the organic dyes now so 
largely used, it would only be possible to go into 
their composition after a large preliminary volume 
on organic chemistry. Consequently, I can only 
give a very rough indication of the classes of dyes 
which exist. 

First of all there are metallic dyes, such as 



DYES AND DYEING 141 

chrome yellow, whicli are very much in the nature 
of a pigment. 

Next, there are the aniline dyes proper, of which 
magenta is a well-known member. These bear 
a distant resemblance to ammonia and its salts. 

Then there are the important groups of which 
alizarine is the best known. These, like the last, 
are all derived from benzole (benzene), or coal 
tar naphtha, or substances resembling benzene. 
Unless combined with other substances they are 
basic dyes. 

Again, there is the nitro-group, of which picric 
acid — the nitrate of phenol, or carbolic acid, as it 
is commonly called — is a good example. These 
are acid colors, and can be used for direct dyeing 
without a mordant. 

Further, there is the very important group of 
sulphonic dyes, which are obtained by the action 
of sulphuric acid on benzene and similar com- 
pounds. The sulphuric acid is broken up, an atom 
of oxygen and one of hydrogen being removed 
by the action of benzine. These colors can be 
dyed direct on to wool, silk, and cotton, and are, 
perhaps, the most valuable dyes the garment dyer 
possesses. 

Direct Wool, Silk and Cotton Dyes. 

In speaking of direct dyes, it must always be 
remembered that dyes which are direct on wool 



142 DYES AND DYEING 

and silk, are not necessarily so on cotton ; in fact, 
although direct cotton dyes are not so scarce as 
they used to be, there are not nearly so many 
direct cotton dyes as direct wool dyes. The rea- 
son for this is that the animal fibre takes a very 
active part in the dyeing process ; while the vege- 
table fibre is passive, and in many cases, so to 
speak, takes up the dj^e under protest. These 
important differences in the behavior of the 
fibres in the presence of dyes makes it distinctly 
difficult for the dyer to deal with mixed fabrics of 
wool and cotton, although there is now a fairly 
numerous list of dyes which will dye both wool 
and cotton direct in the same bath. With such 
dyes, temi3erature plays a most important part. 
The dye will usually go on to the wool when it 
is hot and the cotton when it is cold, and it will 
even leave the cotton to go on to the wool when 
hot so that much care and judgment is required. 

Natural Dyes. 

Although naturally occuring dyes, such as in- 
digo, logwood, fustic, catechu, etc., are still of con- 
siderable importance to the piece dyer, they are 
little used in garment dyeing. They possess the 
advantage of being very fast to light and the 
washing process, and probably a large quantity of 
fabrics dyed with them pass through the wash- 
room every week. 



DYES AND DYEING 143 

Laundry Blues. 

A few words on blues used in the laundry may 
very well come in here. The blue used originally 
was indigo, or rather a soluble compound with 
sulphuric acid, but, except perhaps in domestic 
washing, indigo is now very little employed for 
laundry purposes. Prussian blue is ued to some 
extent. This is a ferrocyanide of iron, is rather 
apt to have a greenish cast, and is credited with 
leaving an iron stain in the goods when they are 
re-washed. Ultramarine is employed a good deal. 
This coloring matter is formed by roasting to- 
gether a mixture of china clay, charcoal and sul- 
phate or carbonate of soda. Its composition and 
color vary considerably from a greenish to a dark 
blue shade, and, as is always the case with pig- 
ments, the depth of color and value depends as 
much or more upon the fineness of the grinding, 
as upon the original color. Ultramarine is quite 
insoluble in water, and although it appears to 
dissolve, it is really only in a state of suspension. 
It is really somewhat of the nature of powdered 
glass, and is quite unaffected by weak acids and 
alkalies. Other blues which are largely employed, 
shade, from violet blue to greenish blue. These 
fiare aniline blues, which can be obtained in any 
are true dyes, soluble in water, and must be used 
with care, because the fabric is actually dyed, and 
if excess of blue be employed, it cannot be re- 



144 DYES AND DYEING 

moved except by some reducing agent, such as 
hydraldite or titanous chloride (stripping salts). 
It is very important in selecting a blue, to use one 
with a slight violet shade ; on no account should a 
greenish blue be employed, as the object of the 
blue is to cover up the natural yellowish color 
of the cotton or linen fibre. 



CHAPTER XIII 

Water 

As water is the most important article, the 
finest washing compound, so to speak, that the 
launderer uses, it certainly deserves a chapter to 
itself. I have already dealt with its chemical 
structure, and what I specially propose to deal 
with in this chapter is the composition, purifica- 
tion and general properties of the natural waters 
which the launderer has to use in practice. 

In the first place the action of water is far more 
than a purely mechanical one. Water wets things 
and other liquids do not. Benzine, for example, 
although it may saturate a fabric, does not ''wet" 
it. It has been found that most chemical reactions, 
in which apparently water is in no way concerned, 
will not proceed in the absence of water ; so that 
water must possess some action peculiar to itself 
which is not yet thoroughly understood. 

The Universal Solvent. 

Water probably approaches closer to the uni- 
versal solvent that the ancients dreamed of, than 

145 



146 WATER 

most people suppose. There are very few things 
which will not dissolve to some extent in water, 
and distilled or rain water, which is free from any- 
dissolved mineral matter, possesses remarkable 
solvent powers. If placed in a glass or earthen- 
ware vessel, it rapidly attacks the glass or the 
glaze of the earthenware, dissolving out the alkali. 
If placed in metal vessels or pipes, the metal, if it 
be iron, lead or zinc, is quickly attacked by the 
water with probably the help of the dissolved air 
which it contains. This powerful solvent action of 
what is commonly called ''soft" water, is alone 
a good reason for the launderer to use it as much 
as possible. 

Another effect of this powerful solvent tendency 
of soft water is that as it passes through the soil, 
carrying, in addition to its own solvent powers, 
some carbonic acid from the air and some of the 
humic acid from the decomposing vegetable matter 
in the soil, both of which help it to attack the 
rocks, it dissolves out a large variety of mineral 
substances. The most common are sodium chloride 
(common salt), magnesium chloride and calcium 
chloride, calcium sulphate (gj^psum), magnesium 
sulphate and calcium carbonate (chalk and lime- 
stone). In addition, some waters contain peaty 
matter derived from bog moss on the hills, and 
iron, of which more later. 



WATER 147 

Lime in Water. 

All or any of the substances just mentioned are 
undesirable in the washing machine, as, with the 
exception of the peaty matter, they combine with 
the fatty acid of the soap, rendering it useless 
from the launderer's point of view, and thereby 
causing a large waste, as well as the bad color, 
streaks and other blemishes due to the lime soap 
already referred to. Another objection to the pre- 
sence of lime in the water used in the washing 
machine is that, although most of it goes into com- 
bination with the soap or is thrown out in a loose 
form by the soda, yet an appreciable amount very 
frequently is deposited in a crystalline form in 
the fibres of the linen, where it accumulates with 
every wash until the amount present is quite 
appreciable. These sharp crystals of carbonate 
of lime rapidly assist the ordinary process of wear 
and tear, and the life of the article becomes 
exceedingly short. 

Hardness. 

Chloride of calcium and magnesium, and sul- 
phate of calcium (gypsum), and magnesium are 
soluble in water in the ordinary way, and if the 
water be boiled, the only effect is to concentrate 
them until you get them so concentrated that they 
begin to crystallize out. These salts constitute 
what is known as the "permanent hardness" of 



148 WATER 

water. The carbonate of calcium is kept in solu- 
tion only by virtue of the carbonate acid present 
in the water; it is really a bicarbonate (see page 
33), and if the extra carbonic acid can be removed, 
the carbonate of calcium will fall to the bottom. 
Boiling the water has the effect of removing this 
carbonic acid, so that the hardness produced by 
carbonate of calcium or carbonate of lime, as it is 
often called, is known as "temporary." Instead 
of boiling the water we can remove the carbonic 
acid by adding either solution of lime, or milk of 
lime, or caustic soda. Thus: — 

Calcium bicarbonate. Slaked lime 
CaCOa H,0 CO. + CaO H,0 

Calcium Carbonate. Water 
= 2 CaCOa + 2 H,0 ; 
or — 

Caustic Soda. 
CaCOs H,0 CO. + 2 NaOH 

Carbonate of Soda. 
= CaCOa + Na.COs + 2 H^O. 

Similarly, the permanent hardness can be re- 
moved by treatment with carbonate of soda, thus — 

Calcium Carbonate Sulphate 

sulphate. of soda. of soda. 

CaSO, + Na.COa = CaCOa + Na.SO,. 



WATEE 149 

In softening water for laundry or other industrial 
uses, a combination of these two processes is 
employed, so that all, or nearly all, the temporary 
and permanent hardness is removed. On account 
of the powerful solvent action of perfectly soft 
water, to which I have already referred, it is not 
advisable to make the water perfectly soft, as it 
would then be unsuitable for use in the boiler. 

The hardness of water is usually stated in 
analytical reports as parts per 100,000 or grains 
per gallon, that is to say, per 70,000 and one degree 
of hardness corresponds to one grain of carbonate 
of calcium per gallon. Consequently, a water 
certified to contain 5 degrees of permanent hard- 
ness and 16 degrees of temporary hardness would 
contain 16 grains per gallon of carbonate of lime 
as temporary hardness and the equivalent of 5 
grains of carbonate of lime as permanent hard- 
ness. Hardness is estimated by means of what 
is known as Clark's Soap Test, full particulars of 
which will be given in the last chapter. A definite 
quanity of water is taken, and a standard solution 
of soap is added, a little at a time, until a per- 
manent lather is obtained on shaking the liquid. 

Iron can usually be removed from natural water 
by aerating it. If water containing iron be 
thoroughly aerated, and allowed to stand, the iron 
will usually fall to the bottom; or it can be re- 



150 WATER 

moved more quickly by passing it through one 
of the usual filters employed in water softening. 
The materials used in the ordinary water soften- 
ing process will remove the iron at the same time 
as the lime. 



CHAPTER XIV 

The Chemistey of the Washroom 

All of the subsequent processes of starching, 
ironing, and so forth, depend for their success 
upon the article being properly washed in the first 
instance, so that the proper conduct of the wash- 
room is of vital importance to the whole establish- 
ment. The theory of the washroom has already 
been dealth with more or less, but there will be 
no harm whatever in recapitulating. 

There are three kinds of ''dirt" the launderer 
has to contend with, namely, albuminous animal 
dirt, caused by exudations from the skin, particles 
of epidermis and animal stains generally; next 
there is greasy matter, which, together with the 
first, helps to keep the mineral dirt or general dust 
stuck to the fabric ; lastly, in starched garments, 
there is old starch. 

Each of these kinds of dirt requires different 
treatment for its removal. In the first place albu- 
minous matter is readily coagulated by heat and 
rendered permanently insoluble; consequently it 
is necessary to remove this before the temperature 
is allowed to rise to any extent, the best plan being 

151 



153 CHEMISTRY OF THE WASHROOM 

to soak the linen for as long as conveniently pos- 
sible in plain water containing a little alkali, which 
helps to render the albuminous matter soluble. 
The next step with this albuminous matter is to 
wash the articles with soap and soda, in warm 
water only, which removes a good deal of the 
loose dirt and most of the albuminous matter; 
finally the articles are boiled with soap and soda, 
and here I must emphasize the necessity of 
having a good lather in the machine. 

If there is no lather in the machine it shows 
that the quantity of soap is insufficient ; that some 
substance present, be it lime or manufacturer's 
dressing, or whatever it may be, has taken up the 
fatty acid of the soap and that more is required. 
So long as there is no lather there is no free soap 
present. Where this happens as a matter of 
practice you are quite as likely to boil the dirt into 
the clothes as to boil it out, and working in this 
manner is a frequent source of bad color. More- 
over, in the case of a hard water, the deposition 
of lime soap in the goods is certain to be greatly 
increased where they are washed without sufficient 
soap. 

The action of the soap and alkali in the first 
wash — I am dealing here with body linen — and 
the boil, is to emulsify the grease and the loose 
dirt, having nothing now to hold it on to the fabric, 
comes away. In addition to removing the dirt, 



CHEMISTEY OF THE WASHROOM 153 

boiling, possibly due to the action of the steam 
causing the production of ozone — the active form 
of oxygen — or in some way connected with the 
aeration of the goods in the revolving machine at 
that temperature, has a great effect in whitening 
and sweetening the goods. Moreover, it must be 
remembered, that exposure to boiling temperature 
for any length of time causes the destruction of 
all disease germs. 

Rubbers. 

Rubbers, on account of the very miscellaneous 
nature of the dirt which they contain, require 
somewhat similar treatment to body linen, al- 
though the preliminary breakdown can be omitted. 
Nevertheless, it is a good plan to run them in plain 
water for a few minutes to wet them thoroughly, 
and to remove any loose dirt before commencing 
to wash. 

Sheets and Table Linen. 

Sheets, as a general rule, require very little 
washing compared to other goods, and are easy to 
deal with, and there should be no great difficulty 
in washing table linen, for, apart from fruit and 
wine stains, and occasional iron mould, the prin- 
cipal dirt is grease, which comes out readily 
enough. As a rule, launderers keep these articles 
much too long in the machine, probably because 



164 CHEMISTRY OF THE WASHROOM 

SO many insist upon using too mu^h alkali and not 
enough soap. This tendency is at the bottom of 
half the launderer's troubles. 

Shirts and Collars. 

The washing of shirts and collars raises the 
question of old starch. If this be not removed, it 
is fatal to any satisfactory results afterwards. 
Here again there is not much object in an extended 
breakdown. The first wash with soap and soda 
in warm water only, not hotter than the hand can 
bear, should loosen the animal matter; while a 
thorough good boil should get rid of the starch. 
In regard to the wear and tear of shirts and col- 
lars, however, it is well worth while considering 
whether malt extract might not be used to advan- 
tage to free shirts and collars from old starch by 
simple fermentation, thus securing freedom from 
old starch with very little washing. In the case of 
colored starched articles, malt extract is simply 
invaluable. 

Washing Materials. 

Before considering silks and flannels, it would 
be well to deal briefly with washing materials. Of 
the hard soaps there are curd, mottled, yellow or 
pale, and oil soaps. Of the soft soap there are 
various makes, all more or less similar in char- 
acter. For general washroom use, the inex- 



CHEiMISTRY OF THE WASHROOM 155 

perienced laimderer is certainly safest with a 
good curd mottled soap. It cannot be adulterated, 
and he is certain of good results in the washing 
machine. It has the disadvantage, however that 
goods washed with it require more thorough rins- 
ing than with any other soap. Also it is alkaline, 
and must not be used on colored goods. The 
yellow soap is said to give in time, a brownish 
tinge to linen washed with it; but I have not 
noticed it, and excellent results certainly can be 
obtained with it. Like curd soap, it is made 
largely from animal fats, and requires thorough 
rinsing. It is, or should be, neutral. Oil soap is 
made from olive, sesame or other oils, and very 
often from the waste oils of the candle factory. 
It is an excellent soap — neutral, and easily rinsed 
out of the goods. For that reason it is very suit- 
able for colored goods or other articles which are 
not boiled, and which cannot be rinsed with hot 
water. Some oil soaps, however, leave a peculiar 
smell in the goods, and this must be guarded 
against. The odor of all the soaps used in the 
washroom must be carefully watched. Soft soaps 
are excellent for flannels and blankets. 

Alkalies. 

Alkalies in use in the washroom are washing 
soda or soda crystals, 58 per cent alkali, and 
yarious proprietary compounds, some good and 



156 CHEMISTEY OF THE WASHROOM 

some bad, including in this category those which 
contain sodium silicate. 58 per cent alkali is 
practically pure carbonate of soda ; while washing 
soda or soda crystals (see page 34) contain a 
large proportion of water. The equivalent quanti- 
ties to use, if you are changing from one alkali to 
another, will be found on page 179. Alkali in 
any form should never be put into the machine 
in the solid state, but always dissolved in water. 
For general use it is a good plan to add the alkali 
to the soap solution; or, rather, the other way 
round, dissolving the alkali first and then the 
soap, instead of putting them in the machine " 
separately. The reason for this is that a neutral 
soap is very much inclined to dissociate to some 
extent when dissolved, and the free fat is prob- 
ably the cause of many unexplained troubles. 

Soap Solution. 

Soap chips containing something over 70 per 
cent of fatty acids are largely used in America, 
and it is necessary to use some form of alkali in 
order to dissolve the whole of the fatty acid, which 
would otherwise separate out. Instead of having 
two tanks in the wash room, one for soap and the 
other for alkali, as is often done, I prefer to use 
only one tank. Add the alkali first, turn on 
steam, and then add the soap. This prevents any 



CHEMISTEY OF THE WASHEOOM 157 

separation of insoluble fatty acid which would be 
almost sure to occur if the alkali were added after 
the soap. By working in this manner, the quan- 
tity of alkali can be reduced. Caustic soda should 
not be used in the laundry at all, except in the 
water softener. It has a most injurious action on 
fibres, and is quite unnecessary. Ordinary alkali 
or sodium carbonate is quite strong enough, and 
most launderers use a great deal too much of that. 
The theoretical quantity of alkali required for 
soft, or even for hard water, is very small com- 
pared with that generally in use. This is prob- 
ably too little for practical purposes, but I should 
regard 4 ozs. of actual sodium carbonate as a 
maximum for a 100-shirt machine. No pains 
should be spared to keep down the excessive use 
of alkali in the washroom, as it causes rapid wear 
in the linen and a yellow color to boot. 

Rinsing. 

A few words now about rinsing. Where soft- 
ened water is in use, as it should be everywhere 
for washing, the rinse which follows the last wash 
should be with hot soft water ; then should follow 
a second rinse with hot soft and cold hard water 
mixed, and a last rinse with cold hard water. 
Where soft water alone is used it is difficult to get 
rid of the last traces of soap, and there is a ten- 



158 CHEMISTRY OF THE WASHROOM 

dency for the goods to feel sticky, but the least 
trace of lime in the water gets over this difficulty. 
Where soft water is not to be had, and washing 
with hard water is unavoidable, it is an excellent 
plan to add acetic acid — in the proportion of, say, 
half a pint of commercial acid to a 100-shirt ma- 
chine — to the second rinse. This decomposes any 
lime soap or lime salts there may be in the goods, 
so that they are washed out, and the goods keep 
a good color and wear better. 

Bleaching". 

Indiscriminate bleaching or insufficient care in 
the use of bleaching materials is the cause of any 
amount of trouble. A very large number of the 
articles which are sent to me in holes, for opinion 
on the cause of the trouble, are due to the use of 
chlorine bleaches, and the rest, to the use of ex- 
cess of alkali. "While it may be necessary to use a 
chlorine bleach to remove stains from table linen, 
this should be done with all jDossible care, and 
only the actual stained portions bleached, unless 
they are too numerous or too extensive, when the 
whole cloth must be treated. Collars should be 
bleached at very rare intervals, if at all, and 
there should be nothing else which requires this 
treatment, except in the case of actual stains. On 
account of the danger of allowing any form of 



CHEMISTRY OF THE WASHROOM 159 

chlorine bleach in the hands of the average wash- 
man, some launderers prefer to let the stains in 
table linen go unremoved, or to treat them only 
at the special request of the owner. 

There are many reliable made up chlorine 
bleaches on the market, but where the launderer 
thinks it best to make his own, a good method is 
to take 5 lbs. of bleacliing powder (chloride of 
lime), dissolve in a bucket with water, and add 
5 lbs. of carbonate of soda (58 per cent, alkali), 
or its equivalent in soda crystals. Allow it to 
stand all night to settle, and then strain through 
muslin into a 5 gallon jar of water. Use one pint 
of this to 15 gallons of water. (Note. — The 
strength of this is approximately 0.03 per cent, 
available chlorine.) 

Souringf. 

After bleaching, the goods should have a bath 
in dilute acetic acid of a strength of one pint of 
the commercial acid in 40 gallons of water. The 
effect of this is to decompose the sodium hypo- 
chlorite with production of hypochlorous acid — a 
very powerful bleaching agent, and easily remov- 
able. On account of its greater convenience, 
oxalic acid is usually employed in America, but 
acetic is greatly to be preferred on account of the 
absence of injury to the goods. 



160 CHEMISTRY OF THE WASHROOM 

Iron Mould. 

An indispensable reagent in the washroom is 
oxalic acid for the removal of iron mould. A con- 
venient strength is about 10 per cent. It should 
be used warm, and steeping for a few minutes 
usually suffices to remove the stain. The article 
should be well rinsed afterwards, as the acid has 
an injurious action on the fibre. It is not gener- 
ally known that warm oxalic acid will remove 
mildew stains. 

Silks and Flannels. 

I must now deal, in a few words, with the 
washing of silks and flannels. There are two 
essential things to be observed here, namely, that 
the temperature of washing should not exceed 90° 
Fahrenheit, and that the wash water should be 
neutral. A good soft soap is the best for washing 
silks and flannels, and the only alkalies that 
should be used are ammonia or weak borax. The 
latter is, perhaps, the better of the two, as am- 
monia is inclined to turn white silks or flannels 
yellow. The use of alkalies, such as carbonate of 
soda or potash, upon flannels or silks, is most 
dangerous, and many articles have been submitted 
to me which have been ruined in this way. In 
connection with this it must always be remem- 
bered that curd soap is alkaline, and consequently 
it should not be used for flannels. 



CHEMISTRY OF THE WASHROOM IQl 

It is most important that the temperature, in 
washing flannels, should be kept as constant as 
possible, that is to say, all the wash waters and 
rinse waters should be at a temperature of 90° 
Fahr. ; while the drying-room for flannels, if they 
are dried indoors, should be about 100° Fahr. By 
keeping the temperature constant, the shrinkage 
of flannels, due to the serrations of the fibres 
interlocking or felting as the fibres move under 
the change of temperature, is prevented. It is 
also very important that as much water as pos- 
sible should be wrung out of the garment before 
hanging out to dry, as the evaporation of this 
water, especially if hung in a cold wind in the 
open air, is very liable to cause shrinking, for the 
reason just mentioned. 

Colored Goods. 

Colored cotton or linen goods are best washed 
with a neutral oil soap in lukewarm water. If a 
color shows a tendency to ''bleed," a bath in 
acetic acid will usually stop it, besides helping to 
brighten the color. 



CHAPTEE XV 

Some Simple Analytical Wobk 

In analyzing a substance, that is to say, divid- 
ing it up into its component parts, there are two 
things to be done: first, to find out what are the 
components ; secondly, how much of each of them 
is present. In some cases it is sufficient to know 
what substances are present in the material you 
are dealing with; while it is not important to 
know exactly how much of each of them is there ; 
as, for example, if an article is yellow in color, 
you are satisfied with knowing that it is due to 
the presence of iron, and it would not be of any 
particular advantage to know how much iron. In 
other cases you can determine not only whether 
a particular substance is present, but also exactly 
how much is there at the same time. 

For simply finding out what substances are 
present you will not require apparatus for accu- 
rate measurement, but for determining quantities, 
accurate weighing and measuring of everything 
used is essential. I will refer to the different 
apparatus, which will only be what is absolutely 
required, as I pass along, and will give a sum- 

163 



SIMPLE ANALYTICAL WOBK 163 

mary at the end of the chapter for the guidance 
of those who wish to purchase an outfit for doing 
a little simple analytical work. 

In the first place you will find it necessary to 
get a few glass stirring rods, a few glass or porce- 
lain vessels in which to conduct your operations, 
and a few bottles in which to contain your chem- 
icals. SupjDosing these have been obtained, with 
the necessary chemicals (see list on page 176), I 
will get to work. 

Tests for Alkalies. 

1. If in solution take up a drop on a clean 
stirring-rod and put the drop on a piece of red 
litmus paper. It will be turned blue if an alkali 
is present. 

2. Add one or two drops of solution of phenol- 
phthalein to the solution. It will turn red in the 
presence of alkali. 

3. Add one or two drops of solution of methyl- 
orange to the solution. If alkaline it will turn 
yellow. 

4. Alkalies in Fabrics. — Boil a piece of the fab- 
ric, if cotton or linen, in clean distilled water in a 
clean dish for two or three minutes, and add one 
or two drops of phenol-phthalein. If alkaline it 
will turn red. 

Note. — In connection with this it must always 
be remembered that soap insufficiently rinsed out 



164 SIMPLE ANALYTICAL WORK 

may appear as alkali in this test. If the fabric 
be wool or silk the water used for dissolving out 
the supposed alkali must only be warm. 

5. Alkali in Soap. — In order to test whether a 
soap contains free alkali, the easiest way is to 
make a shallow hole in the soap about as large as 
a sixpence, and allow two or three drops of phenol- 
phthalein to fall into it. If the soap is alkaline a 
pink color will be produced. 

Test for Acid. 

6. If a solution is being tested, take a drop on 
a clean stirring-rod, and place it upon a piece of 
blue litmus paper. If acid be present it will turn 
red. 

7. Add one or two drops of solution methyl- 
orange to the solution. If acid it will turn red. 
Phenol-phthalein under like conditions would be 
colorless. 

When a fabric is being tested it can be treated 
in exactly the same way as for alkalies. 

Test for Presence of Chlorine Bleach. 

8. Immerse a portion of the fabric in warm 
water for five minutes, squeeze the excess out of 
the fabric so that it mixes with the rest and add 
some solution, or, better, two or three crystals of 
potassium iodide. If chlorine be present the solu- 



SIMPLE ANALYTICAL WORK 165 

tion will turn yellowish. The adition of a few 
drops of starch solution will turn it from yellow 
to deep blue. 

Test for Iron. 

9. If a fabric is being tested, moisten the 
stained portion with 10 per cent, hydrochloric 
acid and add a drop of potassium ferrocyanide 
solution. If iron be present it will turn blue. The 
color will easily come out with ordinary carbonate 
of soda solution. 

10. If a water is being tested, the best way is 
to concentrate it by boiling down, say, a pint, 
nearly to dryness, in a white porcelain dish. Then 
add hydrochloric acid and one or two drops of 
potassium ferrocyanide. 

Test for Copper. 

11. Copper sometimes causes a stain on a 
fabric. Moisten the stain with hydrochloric acid 
and add a drop or two of potassium ferrocyanide. 
If copper is present it will turn red. 

Test for Old Starch. 

12. Moisten the collar, or whatever it may be, 
with warm water and add one or two drops of 
solution of iodine in potassium iodide. If there is 



166 SIMPLE ANALYTICAL WOEK 

any starch present an intense blue color will be 
produced. As this test is very delicate the color 
will be produced by a very minute quantity of 
starch. The test solution is made by dissolving, 
say, 10 grams or i/^ oz. of potassium iodide in 100 
c. c, or 4 ozs. of distilled water, and adding a few 
crystals of idodine. 

Test for Lime Soap. 

13. Dark stains and bad color are often pro- 
duced by lime soap in the fabric. Soak part of 
the stained portion for a few minutes in a dish 
containing 10 per cent hydrochloric acid and then 
see if the stain is removed. Also see if there are 
any globules of fat from the soap decomposed by 
the acid floating in the solution. 

The Fastness of Dyes. 

14. In testing the fastness of dyes on a fabric 
the best way is to cut a small portion from a hem 
or some turned in part of the garment, place it in 
a small porcelain dish and try (a) the effect of 
neutral soap and water in the cold; (&) when 
warmed to whatever temperature it is proposed 
to wash at; (c) the effect of water rendered alka- 
line with one or two drops of 10 per cent caustic 
soda. 



SIMPLE ANALYTICAL WOEK 167 

The Valuation of Soap. 

15. Altliough the complete analysis of a soap is 
a complicated matter requiring extensive know- 
ledge of chemistry and considerable analytical 
experience, it is a comparatively easy matter to 
arrive at a rough estimate of the value of any 
particular soap in a few moments. As I have 
explained above the value of soap can, for all 
practical purposes, be gauged by the amount of 
fatty acid which it contains, and it is quite a 
usual thing to see a soap quoted as containing so 
much per cent of fatty acid. The easiest way to 
form a rough estimate of this amount is to have 
two tall glass jars of exactly the same pattern, 
and to make up a standard solution of any well- 
known and thoroughly reliable soap, dissolving, 
say, four ounces of this soap in water and making 
it up to exactly a quart. 

When it is desired to test the value of a new 
consignment or new sample of soap, half an ounce 
should be carefully weighed out from the middle 
of the bar, and dissolved in water and placed 
in one of the tall jars. At the same time 5 fluid 
ounces (i/4 pint) of the standard solution should 
be placed in the other jar, and sufficient dilute 
sulphuric acid added to each jar to decompose the 
soap and throw down the fatty acid, which will 
immediately appear as a thick, white, flocculent 



168 SIMPLE ANALYTICAL WOEK 

[wooly] precipitate. When this has been done, 
plain water must be added, to each jar until the 
liquid in both jars is exactly the same height. 
After standing for, say, ten minutes for the precip- 
itate to settle, a glance will show how the amount 
of fatty acid in the two soaps compares. If a 
soap contains its proper proportion of fatty acid 
it is not likely to have much the matter with it in 
other respects. 

A More Complete Analysis of Soap. 

For the benefit of those who wish to go more 
thoroughly into the matter and make a complete 
analysis, I will explain as simply as possible how 
this can be accomplished satisfactorily with the 
appliances the launderer is likely to have ready 
to hand. The first thing that will be required is 
a pair of scales, such as the amateur photographer 
uses, and also the equally necessary weights. If 
a launderer does propose to do work of this kind 
it will be well worth his while to purchase a set of 
weights on the metric system, which can be ob- 
tained for a few pence, as the calculation of the re- 
sults is so much simplified ; nevertheless, the work 
can be done equally well using grain weights in- 
stead of grams, if the launderer does not possess 
the latter. I shall give the figures that follow on 
the metric system, but in case the reader wishes to 



SIMPLE ANALYTICAL WOEK 169 

use grains he must remember that roughly speak- 
ing 15 grains go to the gram, and instead of weigh- 
ing out 5 grams of soap, as I am about to suggest, 
he will find it convenient to weigh out 100 grains. 

Sampling Soap. 

Before going any farther, I must say a few 
words about sampling soap. If the latter be sup- 
plied in the form of powder or shreds, as is some- 
times done, the sampling is easy enough, all that 
is required being to take the sample some little 
distance away from the outside of the package; 
but in the case of bar soap, the sampling is not 
quite so easy. Soap, even the best laundry soap, 
contains an appreciable amount of water, varying 
from about 25 per cent in the case of the best 
soaps, to a very much larger amount in the case 
of inferior soaps. Directly this soap is exposed 
to the air, it commences to lose moisture, and the 
rate of shrinkage in a bar of soap, on keeping, is 
one excellent test of the value of the soap. A 
really good soap will not lose its shape appreci- 
ably, but while shrinking a little will get much 
harder and darker in color on the outside; while 
a poor watery soap will shrink in the most notice- 
able way, the bar frequently curling up and losing- 
its shape altogether. In consequence of this loss 
of water on exposure to the air, it is very import- 
ant, when taking a sample from a bar of soap, to 



170 SIMPLE ANALYTICAL WORK 

cut it in half and take the sample as fairly as 
possible from the middle. 

The Analysis. 

In making the extended analysis, weigh ont 
first of all about 5 grams in a porcelain dish; it 
is too tedious a process to get an exact 5 grams, 
so you get somewhere about that amount, making 
an accurate record of the weight taken. Suppose 
in this instance the weight was 5.4 grams. After 
weighing, place the dish containing the soap in a 
double saucepan or porridge pot, and keep it 
boiling until the soap (and dish) are found not to 
lose any more weight. Let us suppose that the 
fresh weight is 4.1 grams. This means that the 
soap, in drying, has lost 1.3 grams of water, and 
the soap is now dry. A piece of filter paper or 
blotting paper is now placed in a glass funnel 
and the dry soap carefully brushed into it with a 
camel hair brush, taking care that none is lost. 
Alcohol (rectified methylated spirit) is poured 
slowly over the soap until all is dissolved, and the 
filter is quite clear of soap, the alchol with the 
dissolved soap being received in a glass vessel 
underneath. This now contains an alcoholic solu- 
tion of soap, any mineral matter, such as carbon- 
ate of soda or silica, being left in the filter. If it 
is desired to estimate this, the filter can be placed 
in a dish, burnt to an ash and weighed; but mth 



SIMPLE ANALYTICAL WOEK lyj 

most modern soaps the impurities of this kind 
are trifling, and the launderer need not trouble 
himself much about them. The next step is to boil 
the alcoholic solution carefully in order to drive 
off the alcohol, and the remainder is then made 
up to a definite convenient bulk and divided into 
two equal parts. To one of these portions dilute 
sulphuric acid (say 10 per cent) is added, to 
decompose the soap and throw out the fatty acid, 
and the whole is passed through another filter, 
which has been previously weighed. When the 
fatty acid is all on the filter, it is carefully washed 
down with hot water to bring the fatty acid 
towards the centre of the filter and at the same 
time remove any traces of sulphuric acid, which 
would char the filter if allowed to dry upon it, 
and thus affect the weight. The glass funnel with 
the filter is now placed in a warm place to dry, 
and when sufficiently so, the filter is carefully 
removed from the funnel, placed on a porcelain 
dish, and put to dry properly in the double sauce- 
pan kept at boiling point. This must be weighed 
and re-weighed until it ceases to lose any more 
weight, as the fatty acid has a tendency to retain 
the last portions of moisture. The final weight 
gives you the amount of fatty acid in half the 
total amount of soap weighed out. Let us sup- 
pose that this weight, less the filter and the dish, 



172 SIMPLE ANALYTICAL WOBK 

is 1.8 grams, which represents 3.6 grams on the 
original soap. 

Having obtained these figures, we will see how 
they work out. It was found that the weight of 
the water in the soap was 1.3 grams. To obtain 
the percentage composition, we multiply by 100 
and divide by the original weight of the soap, 
namely 5.4, which gives us 24.1 per cent of water. 

Again is was found that the weight of the fatty 
acid was 3.6 grams. Multiply by 100 and divide 
by 5.4 gives 66.7 per cent of fatty acid. 

It is not difficult to estimate the alkali present, 
but as this requires a knowledge of chemistry, 
which most of my readers will not possess, and 
the amount of alkali is not an essential thing to 
know, I will not explain here how it should be 
done. In the soap under consideration, the alkali 
combined with the fatty acid would be about 6.2 
per cent. 

To return to the first operation when the soap 
was dissolved in alcohol and the mineral residue 
left upon the filter. This can either be burnt to 
an ash and weighed, in which case I will suppose 
it weighs 0.12 grams, or it can be tested to see 
what the impurities on the filter consist of. In 
the former case, the result must be multiplied by 
100 and divided by 5.4, as before, thus 0.12 mul- 
tiplied by 100, divided by 5.4 equals 2.2 per cent 
mineral matter. 



SIMPLE ANALYTICAL WOEK 173 

Unless there is some very marked amount of 
impurity present on the filter, it is hardly worth 
while to make a test, but where there is a con- 
siderable quantity, it is comparatively easy to 
ascertain what it is composed of. In the first 
place, we can add a drop or two of dilute acid, and 
if it effervesces this will indicate that the matter 
on the filter consists of carbonate of soda; if it 
dissolves without effervescence it is probably 
Glauber's salt; if it does not dissolve at all it is 
either powdered talc, silica or starch (farina). A 
simple test will show whether it is the latter; it 
must be boiled in water for a few minutes and a 
drop of iodine solution added; if farina or any 
other starch be present it will be turned deep blue. 
Farina is not often used to adulterate hard soaps, 
but it is used for soft soaps. 

In the soap under consideration, the mineral 
residue is small and can be burnt to an ash as 
directed. Putting together all the figures ob- 
tained, the composition of the soap will be found 
to be as follows: — 

Water ... ... 24.1 per cent. 

Fatty Acid 66.7 " " 

Combined Alkali ... 6.2 " " 
Mineral Matter ... 2.2 " " 

Glycerine and other Sub- 
stances not estimated .8 " " 



100.0 per cent. 



174 SIMPLE ANALYTICAL WORK 

The Hardness of Water. 

16. In estimating the hardness of water, the 
first step is to estimate the total hardness; then 
to boil another portion of the water, thus remov- 
ing the temporary hardness, due to carbonate of 
lime, filter off the precipitated carbonate, and esti- 
mate the permanent hardness, which is now left. 
By subtracting this from the total, the amount 
of the temporary hardness is obtained. The test 
employed is known as Clark's Soap Test, a stand- 
ard solution of soap, made up so that when the test 
is made so many cubic centimetres correspond to 
one grain per gallon (70,000 grains), or, by calcu- 
lation, so many parts per 100,000. In making the 
test, a clean stoppered or corked bottle is taken, 
capable of holding, say 250 c.c. and 50 c.c. of the 
water to be tested is placed in it. The standard 
soap solution is then run in from a burette, a little 
at a time, the bottle being shaken vigorously after 
each addition. As soon as a lather which will re- 
main for five minutes is obtained, the amount of 
standard solution used is read off and by compar- 
ing with the table (see page 179) the figure for the 
total hardness is secured. A fresh portion of 50 
c. c. is then taken and boiled in a beaker flask for 
five or six minutes to expel the carbonic acid gas ; 
the precipitated carbonate of lime is filtered off; 
the filtrate being allowed to run into the same 



SIMPLE ANALYTICAL WOBK 175 

bottle used for the first test, which has been made 
clean in the meanwhile, the liquid which satu- 
rates the paper in the filter being washed into 
the estimating bottle with distilled or condensed 
water. The hardness is then estimated in the 
boiled water in just the same way as before and 
the amount of soap solution used compared with 
the table. This gives the permanent hardness, 
due to sulphate and chloride of calcium (lime) and 
magnesium. By subtracting the figures for the 
permanent, from that for the total hardness, the 
figure for the temporary hardness is obtained. 
Many other analytical operations can be carried 
out with the chemicals and apparatus, but too 
much space would be required to explain the modus 
operandi and methods of calculating results. Those 
who wish to go further into this matter should 
consult Sutton's Volumetric Analysis and other 
text books on analytical chemistry. 

Apparatus and Methods. 

The apparatus which would be required to start 
with for doing simple analytical work would be : 

Price. 
s. d. 

1. Six beaker flasks (assorted) ... 2 6 $ .60 

2. Six test tubes (a ''nest") and a 

small test-tube stand ... 1 .24 



176 SIMPLE ANALYTICAL WORK 

3. Three glass stirring rods ... 6 .12 

4. Two burettes and a burette 

stand 8 6 2.04 

5. Six porcelain basins ... ... 1 3 .30 

6. A small gas ring 3 .72 

7. An iron tripod stand ... 7 .14 

8. A piece of wire gauze and 

asbestos millboard ... 1 .24 

9. A simple balance and weights 

from 50 grm. to 0.01 grm. ... 7 1.68 

10. Two glass funnels and filter 

paper ... ... ... 1 .24 

11. 100 c. c. graduated vertical 

measure ... ... ... 1 10 .44 

12. Two graduated pipettes up to 

10 c. c 2 .48 

13. Dropping bottle for phenol- 

phthalein solution ... 04 .08 

14. One doz. N. M. bottles ... 4 .96 

Chemicals. 

Hydrochloric Acid (pure) 1 W.Q.' 

Ammonia .880 1 W.Q. 

Acetic Acid 1 W.Q. 

Sulphuric Acid ... 1 W.Q. 
Oxalic Acid 71bs. 

*W.Q. stands for a Winchester Quart, holding 51bs. to lOIbs. 
according to contents. 



1 8 


.40 


2 1 


.50 


1 5 


.34 


2 11 


.70 


3 3 


.78 



SIMPLE ANALYTICAL WOEK 177 



Carbon tetracUoride . . . 


1 W.Q. 


7 





1.68 


Alcohol 


1 Pint 





6 


.12 


Potassium ferrocyanide 


y4ib. 





3 


.06 


Potassium Iodide 


1 oz. 


1 


3 


.30 


Iodine 


^/oOZ. 





6 


.12 


Standard Soap Solution 


1/0 litre 


2 


9 


M 


Caustic Soda 


1 lb. 





5 


.10 


Phenol-phthalein 


50 c.c. 


1 





.24 


Methyl-Orange 


50 c.c. 





6 


.12 


Litmus paper, six books, red 








and blue . . j 


. • • 





9 


.18 



I have allowed much larger quantities of hydro- 
chloric acid, ammonia, etc., than would be re- 
quired for experiments, as these will be found 
useful for removing stains, etc. 

A convenient strength for the acids and alkalies 
is 10 per cent. These with the exception of 
caustic soda and carbonate of soda, should be 
placed in stoppered bottles, holding, say, eight 
ounces. The indicators phenol-phthalein and 
methyl-orange, which show whether a solution is 
acid or alkaline, are best placed in dropping bot- 
tles, so that it is easy to place one or two drops 
where you want them, instead of pouring in a 
dozen drops. 

The form of burette with a piece of rubber tub- 
ing, a pinchcock and a glass nozzle, is the cheap- 
est, and perhaps, the most convenient. In work- 



178 SIMPLE ANALYTICAL WORK 

ing with a burette, it is first of all filled up nearly 
to the top with the standard solution, and then 
sufficient is run off to drive the air out of the rub- 
ber tubing where the pinchcock is; the level can 
then be read off. 

There are two forms of pipette, one which 
measures only a definite quantity, say, 10 c.c.,* 
another which measures 10 c.c, say, when full; 
but is graduated all the way up, so that any 
quantity up to 10 c.c. can be measured with it. 
The liquid to be measured is drawn up with the 
mouth some distance above the required point, and 
is retained in position by placing the finger upon 
the orifice at the top. By slightly relaxing the 
pressure of the finger, the liquid is allowed to run 
down to any desired point. 

Although a thin glass vessel containing liquid 
will not crack, as a rule, when placed over a 
naked gas flame, it is much safer to interpose a 
piece of wire gauze or asbestos millboard between 
the bottom of the vessel and the flame. 

In all chemical operations, it must be borne in 
mind that scrupulous accuracy and cleanliness 
are necessary to any approach to an accurate 
result. 

*c.c. is an abbreviation of cubic centimeters. 



APPENDIX A. 



Table stowing the chemically equivalent quanti- 
ties of the different kinds of alkalies. 



Soda Ash, 58 
per cent Alkali, 
(Dry Carbon- 
ate of Soda.) 

1.0 
0.4 
0.9 
0.7 



Washing Soda 
(Soda Crys- 
tals). 



2.7 
1.0 
2.4 
1.8 



Caustic 
70 per 


Soda, 
cent. 


Pearlash 

(Carbonate 

Potash). 


1.1 




1.5 


0.4 




0.6 


1.0 




0.4 


0.8 




1.0 



of 



Suppose you wish to change from washing soda 
to 58 per alkali, you see that 10 lbs. of wash- 
ing soda can be replaced by 4 lbs. of 58 per cent 
alkali; consequently for every 10 lbs. of washing 
soda you have been using you must now only use 
4 lbs. of 58 per cent alkali. 

APPENDIX B. 

Table showing the amount of alkali required to 
soften washing water. 



f Hardness. 


Amount of Dry Soda 

(58% Alkali or 98% 

Carbonate of Soda) 

required to soften 100 

gallons in ounces 

Avoirdupois. 


Amount of Washing 

Soda (Soda Crystals) 

required to soften 100 

gallons of water in 

ounces 

Avoirdupois. 


5 


11/4 


3% ' 


10 


21/2 


71/2 


15 


334 


111/4 


20 


5 


15 


25 


6V4 


18% 


30 


71/2 
179 


221/2 



APPENDIX C. 

Table showing the hardness of natural waters 
equivalent to the amounts of standard soap solu- 
tion required to produce a permanent lather (see 
page 149) calculated as calcium carbonate. 

Parts of Calcium 
C. C. Soap Soln. Carbonate (Chalk) 

per 100,000. 

0.7 0.0 

1.0 5 

1.5 1.3 

2.0 2.0 

2.5 2.6 

3.0 3.2 

3.5 3.9 

4.0 4.6 

4.5 5.3 

5.0 6.0 

5.5 6.7 

6.0 7.4 

6.5 8.1 

7.0 8.9 

7.5 9.6 

8.0 10.3 

8.5 11.0 

180 



APPENDIX C. 181 

9.0 11.8 

9.5 12.6 

10.0 13.3 

10.5 14.0 

11.0 14.8 

11.5 15.6 

12.0 16.5 

12.5 17.2 

13.0 18.0 

13.5 18.8 

14.0 19.6 

14.5 20.4 

15.0 21.2 

15.5 22.0 

16.0 22.9 



INDEX 



FAGB. 

Acetates— Cellulose 114-129 

Acetates — Cellulose and Feculose 114 

Acetic Acid 48 

Acetic Acid — Use of 47 

Acid — Actioa on Starch Ill 

Acid — ricric (Nitrate of Phenol) 141 

Acid — Test for 164 

Acids 42 

Acids, Allsalies and Salts 30 

Acids and Alkalies in re. to Stains 81 

Acids — Strong and Weak 43 

Adulterations of Soap 57 

Air — Its Component Parts 26 

Albuminous and Blood Stains — Removing 89 

Alcohol 96 

Alizarine (Madder) 138 

Alkali — Action on Starch Ill 

Alkali — Amount Needed to Soften Water 179 

Alkali— Too Much Used 38 

Alkalies 29 

Alkalies, Acids and Salts 30 

Alkalies — Action of, in Mercerization 127 

Alkalies — Action on Wool 40 

Alkalies — Chemical Equivalents of 179 

Alkalies— Test for 163 

Alkalies Used in Washing 155 

Ammonia, 26 ; Caustic 36 

Ammonia Soap 61 

Amyl Alcohol 96 

Analysis — Apparatus for ". 175 

Analysis of Soap 168-170 

Analytical Work 102-181 

Analytical Work — Apparatus Required 163 

Analyzing — Chemicals Used in 176 

Aniline Dyes 81 

Apparatus for Analysis 175 

Ash In Coke 121 

Bad Color of Linen — Cause of 38 

Beiuilne 95 

183 



184 INDEX. 



PAGE. 

Benzine ; or Petrol, Benzollne, Petroleum Spirit and Petroleum 

Ether 91 

Benzine — Soap, CI ; Solvent Action of 94 

Benzole. See Benzene 95 

Bicarbonate Potassium 36 

Bicarbonate, Sodium and Carbonate 33 

Bleach — Making 159 

Bleaches, Chlorine 72 

Bleaching 68, 78 and 158 

Bleaching — Nature of, 67 ; Powder 73 

Bleaching with Sulphur 77 

Blood and Albuminous Stains — Removing 89 

Blues — Laundry 143 

Borax, 38 ; In Starch 116 

Burette 177 

Capillary Action 17 

Carbon Disulphide 98 

Carbon Monoxide and Carbonic Acid 118-119 

Carbon Tetrachloride 97 

Carbonate of Potash 36 

Carbonate Potassium 36 

Carbonate, Sodium and Bicarbonate 33 

Carbonic Acid and Carbon Monoxide 118 

Carbonic Acid Gas — How Formed 32 

Cause and Effect 13 

Caustic Ammonia 36 

Caustic Soda — How Formed 30 

Cellulose— Acetate of 114-129 

Cellulose — Action of Acids and Alkalies on 125 

Cellulose — Made Into Fabrics 125 

Chemical Architecture 22 

Chemical Equivalents of Different AlKalies 179 

Chemicals Used in Analyzing 176 

Chemistry of Washroom 151, 161 and 15 

Chip Soap 56 

Chloride of Lime — How Made 73 

Chloride of Tin — "Loading" Silk with 132 

Chloride — Zinc — Destroys Cotton 130 

Chlorinated Wool 133 

Chlorine, 27 ; Bleaches 72 

Chlorine Bleach — Test for Presence of 164 

Chlorine — How Made 72 

Chloroform, in Removing Stains 82 

Chloroform, Turpentine and Carbon Disulphide 98 

Coal — Composition of, 119 ; Valuing 122 

Coke— Ash In 121 

Coke — Manufacture and Use of, see Coal 120 

Color of Linen — Cause of Bad 38 



INDEX. 185 

PAGE. 

Colored Goods — Washing 161 

Colloids, and Crystalloids 99 

Conduction and Connection of Heat 19 

Copper Stains 84 

Copper — Test for 165 

Corn (Maize) Starch 112 

Cotton and Linen — Differences 128 

Cotton — Direct Dyes on, 141 ; Mordanting 140 

Crystalloids and Colloids 99 

Cuprammonium — See Cellulose 130 

Curd Mottled Soap 55 

"Curd" Soaps 54 

Dangers of Carbon Monoxide 119 

Deterioration of Linen— Cause of 38 

Dextrin — See Starch Paste 105 

Diastafor and Malt Extract 104 

Diffusion 18 

Direct Dyes and Mordants 138 

Direct Wool, Silk and Cotton Dyes 141 

Disulphide — Carbon 98 

Dyeing — I'heories About 135 

Dyes — Affinity of Mercerized Cotton for 127 

Dyes and Dyeing 134-144 

Dyes — Classes of, 137-140 ; Direct 138 

Dyes — Direct Wool, Silk and Cotton 141 

Dyes — Fastness of 166 

Dyes— Metallic, 140 ; Natural 142 

Electrolytic Bleaches 75 

Ether — For Grass Stains. See Alcohol 96 

Fabrics, 125-133 ; Adulteration of 132-133 

Farina — Potato Starch 103 

Fastness of Dyes 166 

Feculose — Acetate of 114 

•Fitted" Soaps 54 

Flannels and Silks — Washing 160 

Fuels 117-124 

Gas — Making from Coal. See "Coal" 120 

Gas — Suction and Producer — Making 123 

Gas — Water — Making 23 

Glycerine 96 

Grass Stains. See Alcohol 96 

Grease Stains — Removing 87 

Green Stains — Removing 82 

Gum Tragasol 115 

Gun Cotton 129 



186 INDEX. 

PAGE. 

Hard and Soft Soaps 52 

Hard Water 147 

Hardness of Water 174 

Heat — Conduction and Connection of 19 

Heat— Effect of 11 

Heat — Radiation, Reflection and Conduction of 20 

•'Higher" Alcohols — See Amyl Alcohol 96 

Hydrate of a Hydrocarbon — See Alcohol 96 

Hydrochloric Acid 31 

Hydrogen as a Component Part of Water 25 

Hydrogen Peroxide 68 

Ink — Printing — Removing 89 

Ink — Writing — Removing 85 

Introduction 7-10 

Iron— Test for, 165 : Mould (Rust) 160 

Iron Stains — Removing, 83 ; Testing for 84 

Light — Effect of in Chemical Changes 21 

Lime and Lime Soap 44 

Lime Soap, 46 ; Test for 166 

Lime in Water 147 

Linen and Cotton — Differences 128 

Madder (Alizarine) 138 

Maize (Corn) Starch 112 

Malt Extract and Diastafor 106 

Marking Ink (Silver) — Removing 86 

Marsh Gas 27 

Mechanical Stoker 121 

Mercerization — Action of Alkalies in 127 

Mercerized Cotton 126 

Metallic Dyes 140 

Mineral Oils 52 

Monopol and Tetrapol Soaps 62 

Mordanting Cotton, 140 ; Wool 139 

Mordants and Direct Dyes 138 

Nascent Oxygen 70 

Natural Dyes 142 

Nature ol Things, The 15 

Nitrate of Phenol (Picric Acid) 141 

Nitrogen — Its Component Part, In Water 26 

Oils— Mineral 52 

Oil Soaps 58 

Oil Used in Soap Making 51 

Oxygen as a Component Part of Water 25 

Oxygen — Its Component Part, in Water 26 

Oxygen — Nascent 70 



INDEX, 187 



PAGE. 

Paiat Stains — Removing 88 

Paraffins 92 

Perborate of Sodium 71 

Peroxide of Hydrogen 68 

Peroxide of Sodium 70 

Photographic Stains — Removing 83 

Picric Acid 141 

Pipette 178 

Potash 35 

Potassium Bicarbonate and Carbonate 36 

Potato Starch, 101 ; Easiest to Make 109 

Potato Starch ( Farina) 103 

Printing Ink — Removing 89 

Producer and Suction Gas — Making 123 

Prussian Blue (Ferrocyanide of Iron) 143 

Radiation, Reflection and Conduction of Heat 20 

Reduction 76 

Removing Marking Ink (Silver) 86 

Removing Stains — Blood and Albuminous 89 

Removing Stains — Copper, 84 ; Grease 87 

Removing Stains — Paint, 88 ; Printing Ink 89 

Removing Writing Ink 85 

Rice Starch 110-111 

Rinsing 157 

Sago — See "Manufacture of Starch" 109 

Salts — Alkalies and Acids 30 

Scientific Methods 14 

Silk, 131 ; Direct Dyes on 141 

Silks and Flannels — Washing 160 

Simple Analytical Work 162-181 

Soaking Garments Before Washing — Reason For 12 

Soap — Analysis of 168-170 

Soap and Water — Philosophy of Action 17 

Soap — Chips 56 

Soap — Lime, 44-46 ; Test For 166 

Soap — Sampling, 169 ; Soap Solution 156 

Soap — Test for Free Alkali in 163 

Soapmaklng — Oils Used in 51 

Soaps 49-154-155 

Soaps — Adulterations, 57 ; Ammonia, 61 ; Benzine 61 

Soaps — Boiled Process, 53 ; Curd, 54 ; Curd Mottled, 55; "Fitted". 54 

Soaps — Hard and Soft 52 

Soaps — Monopol and Tetrapol, 62 ; Oil 58 

Soaps — Soft, Special and Soap Powders 59 

Soaps — Valuing, 63-167 ; Warnings re. Valuing 64 

Soaps — Yellow 56 

Soda Crystals 34 



188 INDEX. 



PAGE. 

Sodium Carbonate 32 

Sodium Carbonate and Bicarbonate 33 

Sodium — Displacing Hydrogen from Water 29-30 

Sodium Oxide — How Formed 30 

Sodium Perborate 71 

Sodium I'eroxide 70 

Soft Soaps 59 

Soft Water — Powerful Solvent Effect of 146 

Softening Water — Amount of Alkali Needed 179 

Solvent Action of Benzine 94 

Solvents 1)1-98 

Souring 48-159 

Stains and Their Removal 79-90 

Stains — Material Necessary for Testing 80 

Stains — Removing Copper, 84 : Grease 87 

Stains — Removing Green, 82' ; Iron 83 

Stains— Removing Paint, 88 ; Photographic 83 

Stains — Removing Printing Ink 89 

Stains — Removing Blood and Albuminous 89 

Stains — Testing as to Nature of 81 

Stains — Walnut ; Removing 83 

Starch — Action of Alkali and Acid on Ill 

Starch — Borax in, 116 ; Gelatinized 103 

Starch — Granules ; Forms of 101 

Starch— -Maize (Corn) 112 

Starch — Manufacture of 108 

Starch — Paste, 104 ; Properties of 102 

Starch— Rice, 110-111 ; Sago 109 

Starch— Test for Old 165 

Starch — Thin and Thick — Boiling 113 

Starch — Viscosity of 107 

Starches and Other Stiffening Agents 99-116 

Stiffening Agents Other Tlian Starch 1 15 

Stoker — Mechanical 121 

Suction, and Producer Gas Making 123 

Sulphur Bleaching 77 

Sulphur Compounds 94 

Surface Action 16 

Temperature 10 

Temperature — Effect of, on Chemical Changes 15 

Test for Acid, 164 ; for Alkalies, 163 ; for Copper 165 

Test for Free Alkali in Soap 164 

Test for Iron, 165; for Lime Soap 166 

Test for Old Starch 165 

Test for Presence of Chlorine Bleach 164 

Testing for Iron Stains 84 

Testing Stains for Nature of 81 

Testing Stains — Materials Necessary for 80 



INDEX. 189 

PAGE. 

Tetrachloride — Carbon 97 

Tetrapol and Monopol Soaps 62 

Thermometer — Necessity of 10-11 

Thick and Thin-Boiling Starches 113 

Titanous Chloride 78 

Toluene — See Benzene 93 

Tragasol — Gum 115 

Turpentine 98 

Ultramarine Blue 143 

Valuing Soaps 63-167 

Viscocity of Starch 107 

Walnut Stains — Removing 83 

Warnings re. Soap 64 

Washing — Alkalies Used in, 155 ; Colored Goods 161 

Washing Materials 154 

Washing Silks and Flannels 160 

Water 145-150 

Water and Soap — Philosophy of Action 17 

Water — Composition of 24 

Water —Hard 147-174 

Water Gas-Making 123 

Water — Lime in 147 

Wool — Action of Acid and Alkalies on 130 

Wool — Action of Alkalies on 40 

Wool — Chlorinated, 133 ; Direct Dyes on 141 

Wool — Mordanting 139 

Xylene — See Benzene 95 

Yellow Soap 56 

Zinc Chloride — Destroys Cotton , 130 



267 90 
































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